Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 0.3% Higher – Still a Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) traded up 0.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $50.17 and last traded at $49.91. 2,775,701 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 11,242,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OXY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $46.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.91.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 108,232 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,348,000 after acquiring an additional 5,160 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 95,888 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,738,000 after purchasing an additional 19,734 shares during the period. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $1,144,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $486,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 43,293 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,139,000 after buying an additional 10,003 shares during the last quarter. 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.