Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 3.4%

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price fell 3.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $65.64 and last traded at $66.05. 4,574,586 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 8,728,263 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on OXY. Mizuho lifted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. HSBC began coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.06.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 2.2 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $62.70 and a 200-day moving average of $61.05. The company has a market capitalization of $59.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The company had revenue of $7.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 16.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 22.51%.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% during the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,423 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 3.6% during the third quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,146 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.5% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,920 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.