Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY)

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 116,673 call options on the company. This is an increase of 46% compared to the average daily volume of 80,070 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OXY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.90.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 3,614,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $87,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 10,603 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 44.7% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,955 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 2,456 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 4.7% during the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 6,209 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GFG Capital LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 9.2% during the third quarter. GFG Capital LLC now owns 50,552 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,605,000 after acquiring an additional 4,267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 3.2 %

NYSE OXY traded down $1.68 on Friday, reaching $50.42. The company had a trading volume of 13,869,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,665,110. The company's fifty day moving average is $49.20 and its 200-day moving average is $51.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum has a 1-year low of $45.17 and a 1-year high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.07%.

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.