Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 1.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) dropped 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $52.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $51.17 and last traded at $51.47. Approximately 3,806,167 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 10,441,687 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.09.

OXY has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have bought a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 over the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,365,992,000 after acquiring an additional 10,434,098 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 3.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 7,680,598 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1,075.3% in the fourth quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,930,776 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $95,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,766,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,117,777 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $203,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337,728 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 3.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 1.55. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $49.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.41.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for 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%. Analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is presently 36.07%.

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.