Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 0.5% – Here’s Why

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price dropped 0.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $50.97 and last traded at $51.13. Approximately 2,676,712 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 9,180,545 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.39.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $78.00 to $77.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.72.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $46.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.25.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OXY. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,707,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $233,687,000 after acquiring an additional 532,318 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,973,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $101,720,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,661,231 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $104,707,000 after buying an additional 277,462 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,556,461 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $80,220,000 after acquiring an additional 133,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,482,049 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $76,385,000 after acquiring an additional 22,920 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.