Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Breaks Below 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)’s share price passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $56.35 and traded as low as $54.97. Occidental Petroleum shares last traded at $55.7880, with a volume of 11,180,236 shares.

Key Headlines Impacting Occidental Petroleum

Investors following OXY have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Occidental reported strong third-quarter cash generation, beat production guidance and repaid $1.8 billion of debt during the quarter. Reports also cited $2.8 billion in free cash flow. Occidental Q3 earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo maintained an “overweight” rating, despite lowering its price target to $76 from $82—still implying substantial upside relative to the cited share price. Wells Fargo analyst recommendations
• Negative Sentiment: Weaker crude prices and ongoing oil-price risk could pressure cash flow, tempering the benefit of debt reduction and production performance. Occidental shares rise as debt milestone sharpens focus on oil-price risk

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on OXY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Stephens increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Roth Capital upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.62.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.7%

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $57.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.16.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 9th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $6.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 32.17% and a return on equity of 18.55%. The company’s revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 10th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 10th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Patron Partners LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,485,000. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3,574.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 31,893 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after buying an additional 31,025 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 127.8% in the 3rd quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 29,449 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after buying an additional 16,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 72.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 60,617 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,353,000 after buying an additional 25,395 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an energy and chemicals company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Its oil and gas business explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas, with operations in the United States and international markets, including the Middle East and North Africa. Through its OxyChem business, Occidental manufactures and markets basic chemicals and vinyl products used in applications such as water treatment, construction and consumer goods. The company also develops carbon management and lower-carbon technology projects, including carbon capture and storage.