Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 0.3% – Time to Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) rose 0.3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $52.34 and last traded at $51.80. 3,008,696 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 9,121,539 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on OXY shares. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.72.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $54.08 and a 200 day moving average of $59.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 1.57.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 bought and sold shares of the business. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter worth about $216,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth approximately $1,527,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 70.2% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,200 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,638,000 after buying an additional 10,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chemistry Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,651 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after buying an additional 7,524 shares during the last quarter. 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.