Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 3.2% - Should You Sell?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) shares dropped 3.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $45.07 and last traded at $45.06. Approximately 5,340,328 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 11,035,493 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on OXY shares. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.86.

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Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $44.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34 and a beta of 1.51. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $49.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS 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 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 analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.