Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 2.4% Following Analyst Downgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price traded down 2.4% on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $49.00 to $42.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $38.36 and last traded at $38.75. 2,625,347 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 12,751,909 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.71.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on OXY. StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.33.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 129.2% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 722 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 2.6 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.57 and a 200-day moving average of $48.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $36.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85 and a beta of 1.02.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS 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 net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

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.