Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) were up 2.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $52.81 and last traded at $52.79. Approximately 8,043,672 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 8,824,706 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on OXY shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.13.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 3.3 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $55.56 and a 200 day moving average of $60.83. The firm has a market cap of $47.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after purchasing an additional 19,586,612 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,707,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $233,687,000 after buying an additional 532,318 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 20.1% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,661,231 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $104,707,000 after acquiring an additional 277,462 shares in the last quarter. Himalaya Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter valued at approximately $92,433,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 53.1% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,450,064 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $91,398,000 after acquiring an additional 503,173 shares during the period. 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.