Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 0.6% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) dropped 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $46.89 and last traded at $47.08. Approximately 3,244,889 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 9,729,792 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on OXY. Mizuho cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler reduced 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.71.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $43.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 27,976 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 3,693 shares during the last quarter. Lane Generational LLC grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Lane Generational LLC now owns 90,757 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,484,000 after buying an additional 7,179 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,958,596 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $146,184,000 after acquiring an additional 377,952 shares during the period. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 29,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,458,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clare Market Investments LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,044,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.