Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 3.2% – What’s Next?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares dropped 3.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $45.07 and last traded at $45.06. 5,340,328 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 11,035,493 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on OXY. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Mizuho reduced 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 note on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 2.2 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.86. The company has a market cap of $42.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $777,000 after buying an additional 10,382 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 12.3% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,377 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 15.2% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 221,970 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,440,000 after acquiring an additional 29,344 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 22,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 124.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 18,481 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 10,248 shares during the last quarter. 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.