Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 2.4% - Here's Why

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) shot up 2.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $50.47 and last traded at $50.20. 4,377,340 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 9,979,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on OXY shares. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Mizuho cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 1.3 %

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $48.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 purchased 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 264,178,414 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $13,053,055,000 after buying an additional 8,896,890 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,365,992,000 after purchasing an additional 10,434,098 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,245,357 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $701,816,000 after purchasing an additional 398,467 shares in the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% during the third quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $475,389,000 after purchasing an additional 7,680,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,065,061 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $349,085,000 after buying an additional 491,797 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.