Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 0.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price fell 0.5% on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $59.00 to $52.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $45.73 and last traded at $45.88. 3,074,415 shares traded 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.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.68.

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 stock was acquired at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 over the last 90 days. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $14,199,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,320,000 after purchasing an additional 6,461 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $48,942,000 after purchasing an additional 50,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $2,509,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 2.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.36.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

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.