Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 0.9%

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares dropped 0.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $51.87 and last traded at $51.92. Approximately 2,282,391 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 8,604,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OXY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.60.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $46.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.52 and a 200 day moving average of $61.14.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. Occidental Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after acquiring an additional 19,586,612 shares during the last quarter. Himalaya Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,744,000. 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.