Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 0.7% - Here's What Happened

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) traded down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $34.79 and last traded at $35.86. 10,152,853 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 10,549,571 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OXY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen cut Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.71.

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Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 3.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.05.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,208 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,631 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

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.