Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Down 8.1% - Should You Sell?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) shares traded down 8.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $36.57 and last traded at $36.99. 7,049,052 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 10,676,273 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on OXY. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 2.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $36.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. Equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

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.