Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 0.3%

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares dropped 0.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $66.75 and last traded at $67.19. Approximately 1,339,772 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 8,636,546 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.94.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 0.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $59.69 billion, a PE ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 1.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The business had revenue of $7.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 20.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,552,271,000 after buying an additional 19,586,612 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,021,929 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $779,983,000 after buying an additional 2,334,651 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 600.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,242,910 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $145,520,000 after buying an additional 1,922,656 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,995,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $357,977,000 after buying an additional 1,088,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 2,340,465 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $139,749,000 after purchasing an additional 797,894 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.