Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 0.5% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares traded up 0.5% on Friday . The company traded as high as $54.88 and last traded at $54.86. 1,378,399 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 9,085,868 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 5th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.29.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $49.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s 50-day moving average is $54.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,262,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after buying an additional 19,586,612 shares in the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,278,000. Finally, Fund 1 Investments LLC grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 120,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,165,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.