Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 0.9% – Still a Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price rose 0.9% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $47.30 and last traded at $46.93. Approximately 2,016,575 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 11,145,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.68.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.9 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders acquired a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,208 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.