Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 1.2%

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price shot up 1.2% on Monday . The company traded as high as $58.44 and last traded at $57.90. 3,896,119 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 8,249,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on OXY. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank decreased their price target 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.69.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a market cap of $50.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.13.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The firm’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 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 1,386,844 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $82,752,981.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 250,583,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,952,323,710.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related 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 sale, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 1,386,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $82,752,981.48. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 250,583,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,952,323,710.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 4,656,747 shares of company stock valued at $278,664,028 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted 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 worth $14,552,271,000 after acquiring an additional 19,586,612 shares during the last quarter. Himalaya Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $42,744,000. Hedge funds and other 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.