Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $44.70 and last traded at $45.55, with a volume of 18171066 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OXY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 2.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.34 and its 200-day moving average is $50.82. The firm has a market cap of $42.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67 and a beta of 1.55.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during 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, analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $3,365,992,000 after purchasing an additional 10,434,098 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 264,178,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $13,053,055,000 after acquiring an additional 8,896,890 shares during the period. H&H International Investment LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 7,680,598 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1,075.3% during the fourth quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,930,776 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $95,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,766,491 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,117,777 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $203,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337,728 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.70% 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.