Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 0% – Should You Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price was up 0% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $38.63 and last traded at $37.90. Approximately 2,911,230 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 10,765,884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on OXY. Raymond James lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.10.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.27 and a 200 day moving average of $48.95. The stock has a market cap of $35.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 1.02.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted 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 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.