Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 0.9% – Here’s What Happened

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price traded up 0.9% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $49.43 and last traded at $49.00. 4,382,928 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 10,503,895 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on OXY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com cut Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $45.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. On average, research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. The trade was a 1.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 160.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.