Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 2.2% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) traded up 2.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $47.63 and last traded at $47.37. 4,413,374 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 9,761,761 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.71.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $44.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 3,614,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.3% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 137,163 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,069,000 after purchasing an additional 10,456 shares during the period. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.9% during the third quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 35,974 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,854,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 44.2% during the third quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 6,272 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 124.2% during the third quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 57,416 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,959,000 after buying an additional 31,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northstar Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 55.1% during the third quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 10,839 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 3,852 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.