Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 0.5% – Should You Sell?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares fell 0.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $45.73 and last traded at $45.88. 3,074,415 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 11,134,707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.86.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 2.1 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. The trade was a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have bought 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last 90 days. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,365,992,000 after buying an additional 10,434,098 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 264,178,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $13,053,055,000 after acquiring an additional 8,896,890 shares during the period. H&H International Investment LLC boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% in the 3rd quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $475,389,000 after purchasing an additional 7,680,598 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1,075.3% during the 4th quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,930,776 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $95,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,117,777 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $203,459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337,728 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.