Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 1.1% - Here's Why

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) fell 1.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $45.39 and last traded at $45.48. 5,427,444 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 11,941,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $52.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.14.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 1.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $44.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.76.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.97 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 11.20%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,230,989 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,960,202,000 after purchasing an additional 12,107,285 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 264,178,414 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $13,053,055,000 after purchasing an additional 8,896,890 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at approximately $99,853,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1,075.3% in the fourth quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,930,776 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $95,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,117,777 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $203,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337,728 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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