Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) shares gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $56.54, but opened at $53.45. Occidental Petroleum shares last traded at $54.2040, with a volume of 2,001,309 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on OXY. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Capital One Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.74.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $57.52 and its 200 day moving average is $51.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.46. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 26.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $226,000. DV Trading LLC lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 8.4% in the first quarter. DV Trading LLC now owns 32,629 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529 shares during the last quarter. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 328.0% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 51,813 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 39,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental’s operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.