Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 0.9% Higher – Should You Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares were up 0.9% 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on OXY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Raymond James lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $44.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.14.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $14,199,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,320,000 after acquiring an additional 6,461 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,942,000 after acquiring an additional 50,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth approximately $2,509,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.