Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 0.7% - Should You Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $52.40 and last traded at $52.19. 1,825,874 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 9,114,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on OXY. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of 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. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.72.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $46.19 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $53.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.52. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related 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 value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 137,163 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $7,069,000 after purchasing an additional 10,456 shares during the period. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at $10,331,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,975,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter worth about $12,547,000. Finally, Royal Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 124.2% during the third quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 57,416 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,959,000 after purchasing an additional 31,809 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.