Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 128,244 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $6,337,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Snider Financial Group acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $390,000. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 13,745 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 10,939 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. Alta Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $498,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,236,980 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,349,000 after purchasing an additional 229,210 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. The trade was a 1.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders acquired 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY opened at $46.58 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $44.70 and a 52-week high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.68.

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.