Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 1.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price rose 1.3% on Thursday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock from $77.00 to $78.00. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $51.60 and last traded at $51.59. Approximately 2,153,531 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 9,344,175 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.91.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on OXY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.70.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $710,886,000 after purchasing an additional 444,850 shares in the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% during the third quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $475,389,000 after buying an additional 7,680,598 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,007,770 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $206,560,000 after buying an additional 98,703 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,707,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $233,687,000 after acquiring an additional 532,318 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,973,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $101,720,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 1.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $48.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.15.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.92%.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.