Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 0.1% Higher

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price shot up 0.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $63.40 and last traded at $62.95. 1,319,606 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 8,044,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on OXY. StockNews.com raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Eleven equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.56.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $55.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.95.

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

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 1.40%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 1,386,844 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $82,752,981.48. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 250,583,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,952,323,710.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders bought a total of 4,656,747 shares of company stock valued at $278,664,028 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% during the 1st 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 period. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. TLW Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 86.0% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.