Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $47.11, but opened at $49.76. Occidental Petroleum shares last traded at $50.5160, with a volume of 13,708,333 shares trading hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays initiated coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.48.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $50.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.03 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $43.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.57.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.95% and a net margin of 9.14%.The company had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

More Occidental Petroleum News

Here are the key news stories impacting Occidental Petroleum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat and production outperformance — Occidental reported adjusted EPS above consensus and production that topped guidance, supporting the thesis of operational resilience and helping drive investor optimism. OXY Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder-friendly moves — Board approved an ~8% quarterly dividend increase to $0.26 and management signaled lower 2026 capex (implying higher free cash flow if commodity prices cooperate), both of which support near-term investor sentiment. OXY Q4 – Results – Earnings Call Presentation
• Positive Sentiment: Material debt reduction and active liability management — Company highlighted ~$5.8B of debt paydown since mid‑December and launched cash tender offers/consent solicitations for certain senior notes, lowering leverage risk and improving the balance sheet story. Occidental Announces Cash Tender Offers
• Neutral Sentiment: Options and volume activity — Unusual call buying (large intraday spike in call volume) and elevated share volume signal speculative/short‑term bullish positioning; this can amplify moves but also increase volatility. (internal trading note)
• Neutral Sentiment: Cash-flow and capex detail — Management reported solid operating cash flow (~$2.6B) with materially lower capex versus prior year plans, which can be positive if commodity prices cooperate but depends on realized oil prices. QuiverQuant: Q4 results and 2026 outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss and weaker profit trends — Some reports show revenue below consensus and notable year‑over‑year declines in profit metrics, highlighting sensitivity to lower crude prices and tempering the upside from the EPS beat. Occidental Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution and near-term commodity risk — Some firms have trimmed price targets amid concerns about near‑term oil oversupply and mixed fundamentals, which could cap upside if oil weakens further. Susquehanna lowers OXY price target

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, Director William R. Klesse acquired 5,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $38.98 per share, with a total value of $194,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 218,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,533,228.74. This represents a 2.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,900,677 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,696,716,000 after buying an additional 699,137 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,539,743 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,635,263,000 after acquiring an additional 828,848 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,846,231 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $771,949,000 after acquiring an additional 167,518 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,602,660 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $436,008,000 after buying an additional 1,883,721 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,730,847 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $276,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,071,948 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental’s operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.