Aviva PLC Decreases Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Aviva PLC trimmed its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 55.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 383,269 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 469,558 shares during the period. Aviva PLC's holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $18,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $8,982,000. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $502,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,245,357 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $701,816,000 after acquiring an additional 398,467 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 13,995 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now directly 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Raymond James lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. TD Cowen lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.71.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.0 %

OXY stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.83. The company had a trading volume of 7,765,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,751,339. The stock has a market cap of $34.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 1.02. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $71.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $46.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.14.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

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.