ARS Investment Partners LLC Trims Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

ARS Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 56.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,412 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 18,645 shares during the quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $710,886,000 after buying an additional 444,850 shares during the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 7,680,598 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,007,770 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $206,560,000 after purchasing an additional 98,703 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,973,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $101,720,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 9.4% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,556,461 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $80,220,000 after purchasing an additional 133,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on OXY shares. Raymond James upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial upped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.19.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:OXY opened at $51.98 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $45.17 and a 12-month high of $71.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 1.57.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 3,614,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.