Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 0.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) were down 0.1% during trading on Thursday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $51.00 to $50.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $44.92 and last traded at $45.47. Approximately 2,847,377 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 11,155,695 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.51.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Susquehanna cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.50.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. The trade was a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.82. 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 has a market capitalization of $42.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 1.55.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 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.