Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 0.3% - Still a Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 0.3% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $52.34 and last traded at $51.80. 3,008,696 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 9,121,539 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OXY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.72.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $45.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $54.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.75.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CapWealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,105 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% in the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,911 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.