Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 2.4% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) traded up 2.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $50.47 and last traded at $50.20. 4,377,340 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 9,979,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $45.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.91.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth $14,199,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $30,320,000 after buying an additional 6,461 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $48,942,000 after buying an additional 50,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $2,509,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.