Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 0.5% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) dropped 0.5% on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $59.00 to $52.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $45.73 and last traded at $45.88. Approximately 3,074,415 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 11,134,707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.10.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on OXY. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have acquired 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $43.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

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.