National Pension Service Sells 618,218 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

National Pension Service reduced its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 39.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 938,243 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 618,218 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.10% of Occidental Petroleum worth $46,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,199,000. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 10,382 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,942,000 after acquiring an additional 50,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,509,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OXY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY stock opened at $48.64 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $49.42 and its 200-day moving average is $51.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $45.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.55. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $45.17 and a twelve month high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders bought a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas.