Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 1.7% – Should You Sell?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares fell 1.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $35.67 and last traded at $35.85. 5,287,113 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 10,741,416 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on OXY shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.71.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $35.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.14.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 65.1% during the 1st quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 16,459 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth $204,000. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 6.4% in the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 55,375 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,733,000 after purchasing an additional 3,331 shares during the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.7% in the first quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 21,051 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 5,395 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.