Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 1.4%

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price dropped 1.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $59.76 and last traded at $59.96. Approximately 1,539,061 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 7,785,382 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OXY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Stephens dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.31.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 2.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $51.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.50% and a net margin of 15.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 765,899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $60.28 per share, for a total transaction of $46,168,391.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 252,333,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,210,688,275.64. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 4,656,747 shares of company stock worth $278,664,028. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CapWealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% in the first quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% during the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,911 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.