Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares traded down 1.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $50.27 and last traded at $50.47. 3,320,395 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 9,198,925 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on OXY shares. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.78.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.09. The company has a market capitalization of $45.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 16.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 532,318 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,973,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $101,720,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $104,707,000 after acquiring an additional 277,462 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,556,461 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $80,220,000 after acquiring an additional 133,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.6% during 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 purchasing 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.