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

StockNews.com cut shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on OXY. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $48.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $45.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.18. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $45.17 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 3,614,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders acquired 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 over the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,241 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently 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.