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

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 76,924 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 34% compared to the average daily volume of 57,390 call options.

Key Stories Impacting Occidental Petroleum

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board raised the quarterly dividend ~8.3% to $0.26/share (ex-div March 10, payable April 15), which supports income-minded investors and helped lift the stock. Dividend Hike Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat consensus (adjusted EPS $0.31 vs. ~ $0.18–$0.19 est.), with production above guidance and operating cash flow strength; management highlighted ~$5.8B of debt reduction since mid-December after the OxyChem sale — a clear de-leveraging catalyst. Reuters: Q4 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Company launched cash tender offers and consent solicitations to repurchase certain senior notes — active liability management that reduces headline leverage risk. Tender Offers Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Management outlined a lower 2026 capex outlook (~$5.7B), implying improved free cash flow if commodity prices cooperate — a potential long-term positive but dependent on oil markets. QuiverQuant: Guidance & Capex
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusual options activity — a large uptick in call buying — signals heightened speculative interest and short‑term bullish positioning but is not a fundamental guarantee. (Market data)
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue and total sales missed expectations (Q4 revenue below consensus) and year-over-year revenue declined, which tempers the EPS beat and points to margin/price headwinds. Zacks: Revenue Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed — some firms raised price targets but several targets and the median remain below current levels, and at least one shop (Wells Fargo) kept an underweight stance despite bumping its target, adding near-term valuation uncertainty. Benzinga: Analyst Notes

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on OXY shares. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William R. Klesse acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $38.98 per share, for a total transaction of $194,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 218,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,533,228.74. This trade represents a 2.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $3,696,716,000 after purchasing an additional 699,137 shares during 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 position in shares of 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 valued at $771,949,000 after acquiring an additional 167,518 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 21.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,883,721 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,730,847 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $276,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,948 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.7%

OXY opened at $51.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.15 billion, a PE ratio of 32.22 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $34.78 and a fifty-two week high of $52.22. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.48 and its 200 day moving average is $43.63.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 9.14%.The company had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Occidental Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.63%.

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.