Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Lowered to “Outperform” Rating by Raymond James

Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $64.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $81.00.

OXY has been the subject of a number of other reports. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.86.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.2 %

OXY stock opened at $47.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 1.51. Occidental Petroleum has a 52-week low of $44.70 and a 52-week high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 3,614,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 $12,046,535,678.40. The trade was a 1.39 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.