Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Here’s Why

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price was down 0.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $45.79 and last traded at $46.06. Approximately 2,753,593 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 11,181,852 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lowered their target price 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. Citigroup lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.68.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

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 cap of $43.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $49.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.44.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase 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 2.09%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.