Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 1.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) dropped 1.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $46.66 and last traded at $46.85. Approximately 2,785,556 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 11,181,362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on OXY. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.68.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $49.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.47. The company has a market cap of $42.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,028 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 27,566 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 16.9% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,482,049 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $76,385,000 after buying an additional 22,920 shares during the period. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,173 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.