Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 8.6% – Time to Sell?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price traded down 8.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $45.09 and last traded at $45.09. 5,825,968 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 10,194,972 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 11.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50 day moving average is $48.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.84. The company has a market capitalization of $41.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.98 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,199,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,320,000 after acquiring an additional 6,461 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $48,942,000 after purchasing an additional 50,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $2,509,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.