Midwest Professional Planners LTD. Decreases Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Midwest Professional Planners LTD. reduced its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 44.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,884 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 4,758 shares during the period. Midwest Professional Planners LTD.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 16.9% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.68.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $46.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $48.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 1.51. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $44.70 and a 52 week high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. Analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

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.