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

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 101,924 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 66% compared to the typical volume of 61,514 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Occidental Petroleum to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. 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 MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.14.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $642,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in 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. Mountain Lake Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $618,000. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. now owns 193,820 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $9,577,000 after acquiring an additional 18,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $499,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 3.7%

Shares of NYSE:OXY traded up $1.64 during trading on Friday, reaching $46.40. 23,546,304 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,409,862. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.86. Occidental Petroleum has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $64.76. 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 stock has a market cap of $45.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.87.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.97 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is 39.02%.

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.