First National Trust Co Reduces Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

First National Trust Co lowered its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 41.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,038 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 3,605 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Empire Financial Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in 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 period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 57,934 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,863,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY opened at $46.58 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $48.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.32. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $44.70 and a 12-month high of $71.18. 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 cap of $43.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. As a group, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on OXY. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 3,614,015 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.