Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 0.3%

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on OXY shares. HSBC started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.94.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $60.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.29.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 20.63%. The company had revenue of $7.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after buying an additional 19,586,612 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 24.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,021,929 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $779,983,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334,651 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 600.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,242,910 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $145,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,656 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,995,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $357,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,052 shares during the period. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 2,340,465 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $139,749,000 after purchasing an additional 797,894 shares during the period. 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.