Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 7,303 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,953 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 7,303 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $12,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $38.04. The stock had a trading volume of 8,602,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,780,786. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's 50 day moving average is $46.46 and its 200 day moving average is $49.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $34.79 and a twelve month high of $69.44.

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Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Equities 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.52%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on OXY shares. Mizuho cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.71.

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.