Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 0.3%

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) traded down 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $66.99 and last traded at $67.14. 1,586,489 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 8,598,132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.94.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.8 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $60.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 1.64.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.74. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 16.24%. The business had revenue of $7.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.51%.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 82.6% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 11,341 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 5,130 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,922 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 15,101 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 4,096 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,791 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. now owns 59,006 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,828,000 after acquiring an additional 27,243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.