Prudential Financial Inc. Trims Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 361,329 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 113,163 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $17,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,365,992,000 after buying an additional 10,434,098 shares during the period. H&H International Investment LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% during the 3rd quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $475,389,000 after acquiring an additional 7,680,598 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,461,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $121,600,000 after acquiring an additional 805,525 shares in the last quarter. Anson Funds Management LP increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3,645.8% during the third quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 765,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,453,000 after purchasing an additional 745,050 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $710,886,000 after purchasing an additional 444,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE OXY opened at $49.47 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.91. The company has a market capitalization of $46.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 1.51. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $44.70 and a 1 year high of $71.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 39.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on OXY shares. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James cut Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.82.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.