Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Up 0.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Friday 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 $52.10 and last traded at $51.88. Approximately 2,021,385 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 9,338,358 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.54.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on OXY. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.70.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at about $14,199,000. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1,181.3% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 65,437 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,373,000 after acquiring an additional 60,330 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 101,365 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,224,000 after acquiring an additional 23,366 shares in the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,576 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,697 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $48.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.96.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. 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.