Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Up 1.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $54.00 to $56.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $51.84 and last traded at $51.78. 3,815,741 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 10,338,895 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.99.

OXY has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.90.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have acquired 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 160.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 494 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $32,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $49.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.45. The company has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.07%.

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.