Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 0.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 0.7% during trading on Thursday after Susquehanna lowered their price target on the stock from $81.00 to $78.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $54.04 and last traded at $54.23. Approximately 3,108,358 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 8,326,774 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.63.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 765,899 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $60.28 per share, with a total value of $46,168,391.72. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 252,333,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,210,688,275.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 765,899 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $60.28 per share, with a total value of $46,168,391.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 252,333,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,210,688,275.64. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum 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 sale, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 4,132,407 shares of company stock worth $247,334,713. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after acquiring an additional 19,586,612 shares during the period. Himalaya Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,744,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 1.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $48.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 1.58. 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 price of $59.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.94.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. Occidental Petroleum's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

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.