Occidental Petroleum Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:OXY)

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 101,542 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 44% compared to the average volume of 70,542 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on OXY. Wolfe Research began coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.21.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% in the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:OXY opened at $51.03 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $55.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.92. The company has a market cap of $46.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.04. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $49.75 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

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.