Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 1.7% – Should You Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a market cap of $46.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.87.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Empire Financial Management Company LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,208 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.