Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Up 0.8% - What's Next?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) shares traded up 0.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $41.07 and last traded at $40.28. 4,887,717 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 10,809,743 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $58.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.19.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $37.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.74 and a 200 day moving average of $48.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 129.2% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 722 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.