Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 0.6%

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) traded up 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $57.28 and last traded at $57.14. 3,209,067 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 8,258,589 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Ten 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.69.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $50.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 1,386,844 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 250,583,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,952,323,710.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 4,656,747 shares of company stock worth $278,664,028 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.