Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Up 0.7% Following Dividend Announcement

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price traded up 0.7% during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $60.59 and last traded at $60.48. 1,712,543 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 7,856,944 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.07.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.31.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $53.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 1.61. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.00.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 1,386,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $82,752,981.48. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 250,583,605 shares in the company, valued at $14,952,323,710.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 4,656,747 shares of company stock worth $278,664,028. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake 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 last quarter. 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 during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. 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.