Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Acquires New Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,793 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $434,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Raymond James downgraded shares of 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 research note on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.81.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of OXY traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.72. The stock had a trading volume of 13,284,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,816,904. The company has a market capitalization of $37.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.02. 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 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $68.43. The company's 50-day moving average is $45.75 and its 200 day moving average is $48.72.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.