Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Upgraded 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 report released on Sunday.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on OXY. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens raised their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.10.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:OXY opened at $50.51 on Friday. Occidental Petroleum has a 52 week low of $45.17 and a 52 week high of $71.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $47.40 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. The trade was a 1.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 7.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 773,762 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,880,000 after buying an additional 51,042 shares during the last quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,002,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 149,387 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 13.2% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 57,365 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,957,000 after buying an additional 6,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1,247.7% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 50,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,602,000 after purchasing an additional 46,740 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

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.