Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 1.9% Higher – Here’s Why

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shot up 1.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $49.29 and last traded at $48.83. 3,277,964 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 9,989,019 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on OXY shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target 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 and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 2.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $46.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $48.51 and its 200-day moving average is $49.93.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

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

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 108,232 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,348,000 after purchasing an additional 5,160 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 95,888 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,738,000 after buying an additional 19,734 shares in the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,144,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $486,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 43,293 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,139,000 after acquiring an additional 10,003 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.