Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY opened at $48.85 on Thursday. 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 has a 12 month low of $45.17 and a 12 month high of $71.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $49.46 and its 200-day moving average is $51.06. The firm has a market cap of $45.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.55.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for 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 analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have acquired a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 160.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.