Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC cut its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 50.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,396 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 11,438 shares during the period. Prudential PLC's holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $502,000. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $228,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,245,357 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $701,816,000 after buying an additional 398,467 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 13.8% in 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 buying an additional 1,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 108,232 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $5,348,000 after acquiring an additional 5,160 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on OXY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:OXY traded up $1.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,798,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,803,899. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.79 and a fifty-two week high of $71.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $35.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 1.02.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. As a group, research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost 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 2.55%. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

Occidental Petroleum 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.