Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 1.6% – What’s Next?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price was down 1.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $53.61 and last traded at $53.90. Approximately 1,863,718 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 9,090,092 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.29.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $54.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.08. The firm has a market cap of $45.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 1.57.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.