Occidental Petroleum Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:OXY)

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 134,743 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 177% compared to the average volume of 48,613 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Capital One Financial upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard Jackson acquired 4,770 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.38 per share, with a total value of $249,852.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at $23,261,853.24. The trade was a 1.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 46,368 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,252,000 after buying an additional 7,273 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1,329.2% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 59,725 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,901,000 after purchasing an additional 55,546 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,537 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 78,828 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,829,000 after purchasing an additional 22,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.7% during the second quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 134,465 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,531,000 after buying an additional 2,288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $61.38. 8,937,056 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,512,039. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $56.56 and its 200 day moving average is $56.71. Occidental Petroleum has a 1-year low of $38.80 and a 1-year high of $67.45. The stock has a market cap of $61.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.16.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $8.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.10%.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. Its operations are concentrated primarily in the United States, including the Permian and DJ basins, and it also has international activities in regions such as the Middle East and North Africa.

The company operates through oil and gas, chemical and midstream and marketing businesses. Its chemical segment, OxyChem, manufactures and markets chlor-alkali products, vinyls and other basic chemicals used in water treatment, construction, industrial manufacturing and consumer products.