Notable Insider Trading: Occidental Petroleum (OXY)

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) insider has recently participated in insider trading activity. CEO, CHAZEN STEPHEN Isold 2,500 shares for $ 176,067 via one transaction Feb 18. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,892,619 shares in total, priced at $ 133032189.5 as of Thursday. Another notable insider trading was done by the same insider on Feb 16. CHAZEN STEPHEN I sold 2,500 shares at an average price of $67.53 for a total of $ 168,825. Moreover, this insider carried out a sale of 2,500 shares at $65.18 each on Feb 11. The transaction amounted to $ 162,950. The insider also sold 2,500 shares for $ 164,000 through one transaction Feb 09.

The stock has experienced a total of 24 insider trades in the past three months. These trades include 0 sell activities and 24 buy trades. Furthermore, over the past 12 months, the stock was traded 52 times by insiders. In 37 of these trades, the insider was a seller while an employee of the company was the buyer in just 15 instances.

On Feb 18, 2016, Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) said that its Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly dividend as well as a special stock dividend for the common stock of California Resources Corporation (CRC).

The Board declared a regular quarterly dividend of $.75 per share on common stock payable on April 15, 2016, to stockholders of record as of March 10, 2016, the record date for the cash dividend. Occidental has paid quarterly cash dividends continuously since 1975 and has increased its dividend each year since 2002. The current annual rate is $3.00 per share.

The Board also declared a special stock dividend of all 71,500,000 shares of common stock of CRC owned by Occidental as the final step of the spin-off of CRC. The special stock dividend will be made on March 24, 2016, to stockholders of record as of February 29, 2016. Occidental estimates that stockholders will receive 0.094 shares of CRC common stock for each share of Occidental common stock owned, though the final ratio will not be known until February 29, 2016. Fractional shares of CRC common stock will not be issued, and will instead be aggregated and sold in the open market, with the net cash proceeds to be distributed ratably to stockholders who would have otherwise received fractional shares.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Oil and Gas; Chemical; and Midstream, Marketing and Other. The Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. Its domestic oil and gas operations are located in Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Texas; and international oil and gas operations are located in Bahrain, Bolivia, Colombia, Iraq, Libya, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.