Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 0% – Should You Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price rose 0% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $49.02 and last traded at $48.91. Approximately 1,894,384 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 10,534,368 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on OXY. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 0.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $45.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 160.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.