Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 7.4% - Should You Sell?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY — Get Free Report) fell 7.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $39.60 and last traded at $40.67. 15,577,032 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 51% from the average session volume of 10,306,577 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on OXY shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.82.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on OXY

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 7.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $38.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66 and a beta of 1.51. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.80.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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