Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Sees Unusually High Call Option Buying

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 96,009 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 121% compared to the typical volume of 43,480 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 13,032 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,874 shares in the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 12.6% in the third quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 161,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $8,960,000 after purchasing an additional 18,185 shares during the period. Avail Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $352,000. Aspiriant LLC grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 15.2% in the third quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 9,513 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 10.9% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Key Occidental Petroleum News

Here are the key news stories impacting Occidental Petroleum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Roth Capital upgraded OXY from “neutral” to “buy” and assigned a $70 price target. The target implies meaningful upside from the stock’s recent trading level and is the strongest direct bullish catalyst in the latest coverage.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target from $69 to $71 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, indicating greater valuation support despite a cautious overall stance.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Zacks highlighted Occidental’s history of earnings surprises and the combination of estimate revisions and earnings trends that could support another quarterly beat. Will Occidental Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary pointing to Occidental’s valuation and potential undervaluation may be attracting value-focused investors. The company’s latest reported quarter also showed substantial year-over-year revenue and earnings growth.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OXY traded up $1.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.36. 11,593,716 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,255,159. The firm has a market cap of $62.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.24. Occidental Petroleum has a twelve month low of $38.80 and a twelve month high of $67.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.57. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 53.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Seaport Research Partners began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.71.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, commonly known as Oxy, is an energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. Its upstream operations are concentrated in the United States, including the Permian and Denver-Julesburg basins, and in selected international regions such as the Middle East and North Africa.

The company also operates midstream and marketing businesses that support the gathering, processing, transportation and sale of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.