Occidental Petroleum Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:OXY)

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 101,542 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 44% compared to the typical daily volume of 70,542 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on OXY shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank reduced 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, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bluefin Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.7% during the second quarter. Bluefin Capital Management LLC now owns 48,996 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $418,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 300,000.0% in the 2nd quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 6,002 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, KGH Ltd acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,295,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $51.03 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.92. The stock has a market cap of $46.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 1.58. Occidental Petroleum has a 12-month low of $49.75 and a 12-month high of $71.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

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.