Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 1.2%

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) fell 1.2% on Friday . The company traded as low as $56.38 and last traded at $56.50. 3,357,749 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 8,266,577 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on OXY. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.69.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.05. The company has a market capitalization of $50.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 1.61.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 1,386,844 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $82,752,981.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 250,583,605 shares in the company, valued at $14,952,323,710.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 4,656,747 shares of company stock worth $278,664,028. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% in the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth $34,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth $44,000. 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.