Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,339 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 218 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% during the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 86.0% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.25. The stock had a trading volume of 3,837,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,888,979. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $53.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 1.61. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $55.12 and a 1 year high of $71.18. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.01.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.50% and a net margin of 15.62%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 334,461 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $19,984,044.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 255,281,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,253,071,059. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased 4,656,747 shares of company stock valued at $278,664,028 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Stephens dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Barclays assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.31.

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.