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

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 142,848 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 98% compared to the typical volume of 72,310 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OXY. City Holding Co. grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 250.0% in the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 750 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Binnacle Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 155.0% in the 4th quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 765 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Stock hit a 52‑week high, reflecting strong investor interest and momentum following recent analyst action and oil price strength. Occidental Petroleum stock hits 52-week high at 60.75 USD
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages raised ratings/targets this morning — HSBC to a Buy with a $68 PT and Mizuho boosting its target to $72 — and JPMorgan upgraded OXY from Underweight to Neutral (PT $63). Those calls give the stock near‑term support from institutional investors. HSBC price target raise / Benzinga Mizuho Raises Occidental Price Target to $72.00 JPMorgan upgrade / TickerReport
• Positive Sentiment: Oil price strength and active balance‑sheet moves are lifting sentiment — crude spikes help E&P multiples, while Occidental’s cash tender offers and recent asset sale (OxyChem) support a deleveraging narrative. Occidental Petroleum gains as oil prices spike and debt buyback stays in focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings: OXY beat EPS expectations last quarter but revenue came in below estimates — a mixed fundamental print that makes the stock sensitive to forward guidance and oil prices (investors are watching whether the post‑earnings rally can continue). Occidental (OXY) Up 15.6% Since Last Earnings Report
• Neutral Sentiment: General market interest/trending coverage is increasing (investor attention can amplify moves but doesn’t guarantee direction). Is Trending Stock Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) a Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Operational risk from Middle East disruptions: reports say the Shah gas field and Fujairah crude loadings have been affected, which could dent near‑term production and export revenue if outages persist. This is the main tangible downside risk to the recent rally. Occidental Faces New Middle East Disruptions

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY opened at $60.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Occidental Petroleum has a 12-month low of $34.78 and a 12-month high of $61.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.95 billion, a PE ratio of 37.75 and a beta of 0.34.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OXY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.14.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.