Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Time to Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price rose 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $49.11 and last traded at $49.08. Approximately 1,401,452 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 9,395,317 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OXY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.71.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.78. The stock has a market cap of $43.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 2,477,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.25 per share, for a total transaction of $114,577,992.50. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 257,758,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,921,348,477.50. The trade was a 0.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $710,886,000 after purchasing an additional 444,850 shares during the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% during the 3rd quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $475,389,000 after purchasing an additional 7,680,598 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,007,770 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $206,560,000 after purchasing an additional 98,703 shares during the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,461,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $121,600,000 after purchasing an additional 805,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,973,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $101,720,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.