Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY)

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 127,527 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 119% compared to the average volume of 58,193 call options.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.29. The stock had a trading volume of 14,319,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,149,348. Occidental Petroleum has a 1 year low of $34.78 and a 1 year high of $52.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.37. The company has a market capitalization of $43.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.16. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William R. Klesse bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $38.98 per share, with a total value of $194,900.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 218,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,533,228.74. The trade was a 2.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. City Holding Co. grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 250.0% in the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Binnacle Investments Inc acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1,193.9% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 854 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the period. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on OXY shares. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $52.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Citigroup cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.55.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental’s operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.