Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 0.5% Higher – What’s Next?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price traded up 0.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $46.95 and last traded at $46.79. 2,457,780 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 9,427,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on OXY shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.10.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $42.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 22.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at $14,199,000. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 10,382 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $2,509,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 27.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 70,580 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,638,000 after purchasing an additional 15,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1,247.7% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 50,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,602,000 after buying an additional 46,740 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.