Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 1.2%

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) were up 1.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $58.44 and last traded at $57.90. Approximately 3,896,119 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 8,249,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on OXY shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.69.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.13.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 524,340 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $31,329,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 248,542,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,850,412,463. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 524,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $31,329,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 248,542,468 shares in the company, valued at $14,850,412,463. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders acquired 4,656,747 shares of company stock worth $278,664,028 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter worth about $12,547,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 139.4% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 78,529 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,104,000 after acquiring an additional 45,722 shares during the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $763,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 143.2% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 36,475 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,178,000 after acquiring an additional 21,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 904,081 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,757,000 after acquiring an additional 8,863 shares during 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.