Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 1.2% – What’s Next?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price fell 1.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $48.66 and last traded at $48.92. 2,434,508 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 10,016,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on OXY. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 1.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $45.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.87.

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 for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 108,232 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,348,000 after purchasing an additional 5,160 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 95,888 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,738,000 after buying an additional 19,734 shares in the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $1,144,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $486,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 10,003 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.