Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 1.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $48.22 and last traded at $48.19. 1,703,103 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 9,852,677 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $45.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.80 and a 200-day moving average of $50.14.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. Research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $14,199,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,320,000 after acquiring an additional 6,461 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,942,000 after acquiring an additional 50,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $2,509,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.