Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Up 0.9% – Time to Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) traded up 0.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $55.35 and last traded at $55.27. 4,840,680 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 9,024,450 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on OXY. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.18.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $55.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 1.57.

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

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after purchasing an additional 19,586,612 shares during the period. Himalaya Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter valued at about $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at about $42,744,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.