D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 23,792 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 36.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,398 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 23,792 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $2,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of OXY. H&H International Investment LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% in the third quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $475,389,000 after buying an additional 7,680,598 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,461,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $121,600,000 after buying an additional 805,525 shares during the period. Anson Funds Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3,645.8% in the third quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 765,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,453,000 after buying an additional 745,050 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $710,886,000 after buying an additional 444,850 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $18,554,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OXY has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.90.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. The trade was a 1.39 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have purchased a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $50.42 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.41. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.17 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18. The stock has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 1.55.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 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 firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 36.07%.

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.