Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 1.8% - Here's What Happened

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 1.8% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $38.77 and last traded at $38.34. Approximately 3,963,586 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 10,762,493 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on OXY. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. TD Cowen cut Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.81.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 3.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $37.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $45.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for 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 expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,199,000. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $642,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $30,320,000 after acquiring an additional 6,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $48,942,000 after buying an additional 50,983 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.