Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 2.4% on Analyst Downgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 2.4% on Monday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $58.00 to $46.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $38.36 and last traded at $38.75. Approximately 2,625,347 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 12,751,909 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.71.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Scotiabank cut Occidental Petroleum from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Occidental Petroleum to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.19.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the company's 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 completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,199,000. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $642,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $30,320,000 after purchasing an additional 6,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $48,942,000 after purchasing an additional 50,983 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.32. The firm has a market cap of $37.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 1.02.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. Analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. 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%.

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.