Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Price Target Raised to $56.00

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its target price hoisted by UBS Group from $54.00 to $56.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on OXY. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 3.2 %

Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $50.42 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.37. Occidental Petroleum has a 12 month low of $45.17 and a 12 month high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. Analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders bought a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Segment Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.2% in the third quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% in the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,241 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empire Financial Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% in the third quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.