Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 1.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares were up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $54.00 to $56.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $51.84 and last traded at $51.78. Approximately 3,815,741 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 10,338,895 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.99.

OXY has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its holdings in 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 worth $13,053,055,000 after purchasing an additional 8,896,890 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% during 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $701,816,000 after purchasing an additional 398,467 shares in the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 7.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.7 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $49.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.24 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.07%.

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.