Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 0.5% After Analyst Downgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) was down 0.5% on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $59.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $51.67 and last traded at $51.78. Approximately 1,691,849 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 8,562,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.06.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% during the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $46.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 1.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

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.