Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on OXY shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com cut Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.3 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.04. The stock has a market cap of $45.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth approximately $14,199,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,320,000 after buying an additional 6,461 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,942,000 after acquiring an additional 50,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth $2,509,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.