Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 0.3% – Time to Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price shot up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $50.17 and last traded at $49.91. Approximately 2,775,701 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 11,242,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $45.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $48.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.