Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 0.9% – What’s Next?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price traded down 0.9% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $51.92 and last traded at $52.23. 2,607,081 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 9,603,845 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank decreased 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 dropped their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.19.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $49.65 and its 200-day moving average is $53.61. The company has a market cap of $49.05 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 1.57.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 38.2% during the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 5,314 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,468 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $222,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,029 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 5.9% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 31,275 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,971,000 after buying an additional 1,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 8.9% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 50,448 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,180,000 after buying an additional 4,113 shares during the period. 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.