Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) were down 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $47.17 and last traded at $47.83. Approximately 2,049,633 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 9,864,702 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective 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 given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.3 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $48.61 and a 200-day moving average of $50.04. 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 market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 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.