Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 1% - Still a Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) shot up 1% on Monday . The company traded as high as $48.46 and last traded at $48.41. 2,339,556 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 9,959,885 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OXY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $71.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.82.

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Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.4 %

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $48.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.91. 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 firm has a market cap of $46.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 of the company's stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently 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.