Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 0.3% - Here's What Happened

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 0.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $47.59 and last traded at $47.81. 1,837,940 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 9,874,413 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on OXY. Raymond James lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.45.

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Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $44.98 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63 and a beta of 1.51. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $48.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. As a group, equities 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 issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 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.