Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 0.4% Higher

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $52.38 and last traded at $52.22. 2,260,269 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 8,406,725 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on OXY shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.50.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.78. The company has a market cap of $45.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 1,060,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.59 per share, for a total transaction of $63,204,312.27. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 254,947,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,192,295,484.17. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its position 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. Himalaya Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter valued at about $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter worth about $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,744,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.