Level Four Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lessened its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 119,639 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 19,290 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $5,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 10,434,098 shares during the period. H&H International Investment LLC raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% during the 3rd quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $475,389,000 after acquiring an additional 7,680,598 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 805,525 shares in the last quarter. Anson Funds Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3,645.8% in the third quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 765,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,453,000 after acquiring an additional 745,050 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $710,886,000 after purchasing an additional 444,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of OXY stock opened at $49.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.70 and a fifty-two week high of $71.19.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 39.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.82.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.