Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Up 0.1% - Still a Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) was up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $49.22 and last traded at $49.24. Approximately 1,186,313 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 10,194,847 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OXY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Raymond James downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.82.

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Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 7.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.84. The firm has a market cap of $42.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.65 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

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.