Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 1.7% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) traded up 1.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $49.78 and last traded at $49.67. 2,440,226 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 10,215,967 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.20 and a 200-day moving average of $49.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was acquired 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 directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $14,199,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 increased its stake 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 acquiring 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 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,509,000. 88.70% of the stock is 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.