Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 1,720,156 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,503,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,720,156 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $271,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,241 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% in the third quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $48.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $45.17 and a 1 year high of $71.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.19.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 yield of 1.98%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have bought 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Occidental Petroleum 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.