Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 1.2% After Earnings Beat

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price traded up 1.2% during trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $48.89 and last traded at $48.64. 4,891,152 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 9,670,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.06.

The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 15.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.71.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 3,614,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 over the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.5% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 8,896,890 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,365,992,000 after buying an additional 10,434,098 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,245,357 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $701,816,000 after buying an additional 398,467 shares during the period. H&H International Investment LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 7,680,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,065,061 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $349,085,000 after acquiring an additional 491,797 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 1.9 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $45.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 1.55.

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.