Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 0.7% on Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price rose 0.7% during trading on Friday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock from $77.00 to $78.00. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $52.10 and last traded at $51.88. Approximately 2,021,385 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 9,338,358 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.54.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.70.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at $14,199,000. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1,181.3% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 65,437 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,373,000 after acquiring an additional 60,330 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 101,365 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,224,000 after purchasing an additional 23,366 shares in the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 30.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,576 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,697 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.8 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.73 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 22.92%.

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.