Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 2.4% Following Analyst Downgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price fell 2.4% during mid-day trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $49.00 to $42.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $38.36 and last traded at $38.75. 2,625,347 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 12,751,909 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.71.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. TD Cowen cut Occidental Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 129.2% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 722 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 2.6 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.55. 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 has a market cap of $36.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85 and a beta of 1.02.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

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.