Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 1.2% – Should You Sell?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares fell 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $48.66 and last traded at $48.92. 2,434,508 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 10,016,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $45.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.51. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.87.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 264,178,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $13,053,055,000 after acquiring an additional 8,896,890 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,365,992,000 after buying an additional 10,434,098 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,245,357 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $701,816,000 after buying an additional 398,467 shares during the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% in the 3rd quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $475,389,000 after buying an additional 7,680,598 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,065,061 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $349,085,000 after acquiring an additional 491,797 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.