Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 0.5% on Analyst Downgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price traded down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $59.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $51.67 and last traded at $51.78. 1,691,849 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 8,562,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.06.

OXY has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after acquiring an additional 19,586,612 shares during the last quarter. Himalaya Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter worth approximately $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter worth approximately $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter worth approximately $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter worth approximately $42,744,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $46.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.48 and a 200 day moving average of $61.45.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

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.