Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 0.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) dropped 0.9% on Friday after Susquehanna lowered their price target on the stock from $78.00 to $77.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $51.10 and last traded at $51.25. Approximately 3,467,956 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 9,122,268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.72.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of OXY. CapWealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% in the first quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% in the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,911 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.81.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

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.