M Holdings Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 943 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $710,886,000 after purchasing an additional 444,850 shares during the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% in the 3rd quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $475,389,000 after buying an additional 7,680,598 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,236,980 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $209,349,000 after acquiring an additional 229,210 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,958,596 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $146,184,000 after acquiring an additional 377,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 805,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:OXY opened at $48.11 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $48.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $44.70 and a 12-month high of $71.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. 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 issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 39.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on OXY. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.45.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% 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.