Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 2.5% Higher - Here's Why

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) traded up 2.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $39.82 and last traded at $40.00. 1,571,178 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 10,791,060 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on OXY shares. Scotiabank cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $54.19.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.21. The firm has a market cap of $37.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 1.02.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was acquired 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 129.2% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 722 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. 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.