Occidental Petroleum Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:OXY)

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 168,342 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 189% compared to the average daily volume of 58,265 call options.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY stock opened at $44.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.63 and a 200-day moving average of $43.79. Occidental Petroleum has a one year low of $34.78 and a one year high of $56.49. The company has a market cap of $44.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54 and a beta of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 13.78%. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 6,237.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 336,438 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $16,607,000 after buying an additional 331,129 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 53.5% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,254 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 4,270 shares during the period. Clare Market Investments LLC increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Clare Market Investments LLC now owns 22,118 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,092,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 11,970 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222 shares during the period. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 11.4% during the first quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 5,395 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Mizuho raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday. HSBC upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.87.

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.