Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp lessened its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 72.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,887 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 36,599 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $686,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,199,000. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $642,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $30,320,000 after acquiring an additional 6,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $48,942,000 after purchasing an additional 50,983 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the insider now 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on OXY shares. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.33.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:OXY traded down $0.99 during trading on Monday, reaching $38.72. 2,396,650 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,803,341. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $68.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 1.02. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $45.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.55.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend 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.