Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 1.9% - What's Next?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 1.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $48.75 and last traded at $48.89. 3,622,835 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 10,544,313 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on OXY. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

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 company has a market cap of $45.86 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.21.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. Sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 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 issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. This is a positive change 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 (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have bought 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,199,000. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,079 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 10,382 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its stake 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 worth $48,942,000 after purchasing an additional 50,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $2,509,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.