Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 0.1%

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) rose 0.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $63.40 and last traded at $62.95. Approximately 1,319,606 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 8,044,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.56.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 0.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $55.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $63.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.65.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 17.50%. Occidental Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 524,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $31,329,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 248,542,468 shares in the company, valued at $14,850,412,463. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have acquired a total of 4,656,747 shares of company stock valued at $278,664,028 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. TLW Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 86.0% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.