Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Sells 675 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd reduced its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 51.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 632 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 675 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $31,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,365,992,000 after acquiring an additional 10,434,098 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 398,467 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,236,980 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,349,000 after acquiring an additional 229,210 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,958,596 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $146,184,000 after buying an additional 377,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% during 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 in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY opened at $40.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $38.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.86 and a 200-day moving average of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 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 $71.19.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released 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 business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.90.

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.