Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

OXY has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America began coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.78.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $50.52 on Thursday. Occidental Petroleum has a twelve month low of $49.51 and a twelve month high of $71.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.09.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 9,088 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 27,519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,735,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.0% in the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 17,592 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,109,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas.