Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Up 5.8% Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) shares shot up 5.8% during trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $52.17 and last traded at $51.66. 12,643,479 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 26% from the average session volume of 10,053,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.84.

The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 2,477,362 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $46.25 per share, for a total transaction of $114,577,992.50. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 257,758,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,921,348,477.50. This trade represents a 0.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 3.2 %

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 stock has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 1.55. The firm's 50-day moving average is $49.20 and its 200 day moving average is $51.41.

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.