Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 2.7% Higher – Time to Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price traded up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $39.20 and last traded at $38.83. 3,852,897 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 12,774,107 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler cut 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. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.81.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $37.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.72. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 129.2% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 722 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently 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.