Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Up 2.3% After Dividend Announcement

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price rose 2.3% on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $51.68 and last traded at $51.57. Approximately 6,573,401 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 9,148,315 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.40.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 21.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.72.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $46.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 1.58.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 160.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.