Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 0.3% – Here’s Why

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) traded up 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $50.17 and last traded at $49.91. 2,775,701 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 11,242,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on OXY. Mizuho reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.28 and a 200-day moving average of $49.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

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