Piper Sandler Lowers Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Price Target to $48.00

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) had its target price decreased by Piper Sandler from $50.00 to $48.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas producer's stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on OXY. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.19.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OXY traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.38. The stock had a trading volume of 6,406,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,868,601. The company has a market capitalization of $37.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55 and a beta of 1.02. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.74 and a 200-day moving average of $48.11. Occidental Petroleum has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $68.43.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $14,199,000. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $642,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% during the 4th 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 increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

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.