Guardian Wealth Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Guardian Wealth Management Inc. decreased its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 64.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,478 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 33,212 shares during the quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of OXY. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of OXY traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $40.30. The company had a trading volume of 3,150,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,859,887. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $68.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $37.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.03.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on OXY shares. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $54.19.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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.