Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 0.3% – What’s Next?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares fell 0.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $47.17 and last traded at $47.83. 2,049,633 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 9,864,702 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on OXY. Raymond James lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a market cap of $44.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.12. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. As a group, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 95,888 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,738,000 after buying an additional 19,734 shares in the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,144,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $486,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 43,293 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,139,000 after purchasing an additional 10,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $8,284,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.