Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 1% Higher

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) rose 1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $51.18 and last traded at $51.15. Approximately 2,861,208 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 8,501,552 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OXY has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target 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. UBS Group upped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.71. The company has a market capitalization of $45.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98 and a beta of 1.58. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend yield of 1.73%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 334,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $19,984,044.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 255,281,524 shares in the company, valued at $15,253,071,059. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Occidental Petroleum 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 stock was 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 334,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $19,984,044.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 255,281,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,253,071,059. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Himalaya Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at approximately $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,744,000. 88.70% of the stock is 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.