Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $47.00 to $46.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer's stock.

OXY has been the subject of a number of other reports. TD Cowen cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $52.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Occidental Petroleum to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.62.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY stock traded down $2.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $42.77. The company had a trading volume of 29,939,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,992,576. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.24. 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 $42.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.39 and a beta of 0.84. Occidental Petroleum has a one year low of $34.79 and a one year high of $64.76.

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

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 17.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 12,107,285 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3.5% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 8,896,890 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at $99,853,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1,075.3% in the 4th quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,930,776 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $95,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,766,491 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in 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 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.