Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 2.7% – Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on OXY. UBS Group cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.81.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 2.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $36.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $46.08 and its 200 day moving average is $48.87.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,208 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 20.2% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,631 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.