Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Sets New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $51.00 to $50.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $44.70 and last traded at $45.55, with a volume of 18171066 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.53.

Several other brokerages have also commented on OXY. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders acquired 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% in the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,241 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Empire Financial Management Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $44.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 1.51. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.72.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

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.