Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 1.9% – What’s Next?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price traded down 1.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $48.75 and last traded at $48.89. 3,622,835 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 10,544,313 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 1.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $46.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. Equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 45,355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,241,000 after buying an additional 11,720 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 50,158 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after acquiring an additional 16,188 shares in the last quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 7,665 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $494,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,437,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.