Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 1.9% – Should You Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) was up 1.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $49.29 and last traded at $48.83. Approximately 3,277,964 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 9,989,019 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average is $48.51 and its 200 day moving average is $49.93. 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 $46.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.