Investors Purchase High Volume of Occidental Petroleum Call Options (NYSE:OXY)

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 134,743 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 177% compared to the average volume of 48,613 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum 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, for a total transaction of $249,852.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,261,853.24. This represents a 1.09% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY opened at $61.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $61.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Occidental Petroleum has a 1-year low of $38.80 and a 1-year high of $67.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.85.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on OXY. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.96.

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.