Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 0.8% – Still a Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shot up 0.8% on Monday . The company traded as high as $48.00 and last traded at $47.50. 5,760,759 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 9,585,931 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on OXY shares. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.10.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 1.6 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.00. The stock has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 160.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $87,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.