Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Up 0.9% - Should You Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) shares rose 0.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $47.30 and last traded at $46.93. Approximately 2,016,575 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 11,145,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OXY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James cut Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.45.

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Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.3 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.04. The company has a market cap of $45.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 1.51. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 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.