Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Scotiabank cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a sector outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued 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 a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $69.13.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY opened at $51.54 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.83. The company has a market capitalization of $45.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 1.58. Occidental Petroleum has a 1 year low of $49.75 and a 1 year high of $71.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. Research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after purchasing an additional 19,586,612 shares in the last quarter. Himalaya Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter worth approximately $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth approximately $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter worth approximately $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter worth approximately $42,744,000. 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.