Occidental Petroleum Options Trading: A Deep Dive into Market Sentiment

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Occidental Petroleum OXY.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with OXY, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what these investors just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 20 uncommon options trades for Occidental Petroleum.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 50% bullish and 45%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 7 are puts, for a total amount of $642,771, and 13 are calls, for a total amount of $492,118.

Expected Price Movements

Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $47.5 to $65.0 for Occidental Petroleum during the past quarter.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

In today's trading context, the average open interest for options of Occidental Petroleum stands at 4744.71, with a total volume reaching 6,453.00. The accompanying chart delineates the progression of both call and put option volume and open interest for high-value trades in Occidental Petroleum, situated within the strike price corridor from $47.5 to $65.0, throughout the last 30 days.

Occidental Petroleum Option Activity Analysis: Last 30 Days

Biggest Options Spotted:

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum is an independent exploration and production company with operations in the United States, Latin America, and the Middle East. At the end of 2023, the company reported net proved reserves of nearly 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Net production averaged 1,234 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2023 at a ratio of roughly 50% oil and natural gas liquids and 50% natural gas.

Following our analysis of the options activities associated with Occidental Petroleum, we pivot to a closer look at the company's own performance.

Occidental Petroleum's Current Market Status

• With a trading volume of 8,519,443, the price of OXY is down by -2.01%, reaching $56.23.
• Current RSI values indicate that the stock is may be approaching oversold.
• Next earnings report is scheduled for 77 days from now.

Expert Opinions on Occidental Petroleum

A total of 5 professional analysts have given their take on this stock in the last 30 days, setting an average price target of $68.6.

• An analyst from UBS persists with their Neutral rating on Occidental Petroleum, maintaining a target price of $70.
• An analyst from Truist Securities has decided to maintain their Hold rating on Occidental Petroleum, which currently sits at a price target of $67.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Wells Fargo keeps a Equal-Weight rating on Occidental Petroleum with a target price of $65.
• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Truist Securities continues to hold a Hold rating for Occidental Petroleum, targeting a price of $65.
• Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Stephens & Co. lowers its rating to Overweight with a new price target of $76.

Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.

If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Occidental Petroleum, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.