Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Down 2.6% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) dropped 2.6% on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $47.00 to $46.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as low as $44.09 and last traded at $43.88. Approximately 9,484,108 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 20% from the average daily volume of 11,900,106 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.07.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on OXY. Scotiabank set a $45.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.71.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 123,706 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,112,000 after purchasing an additional 24,958 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 7,967 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 3,123 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 104,699 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $5,173,000 after buying an additional 13,781 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 14,616 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $722,000 after buying an additional 6,678 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,944 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,270,000 after buying an additional 10,120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $42.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

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.