Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Research Coverage Started at Bank of America

Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $57.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 5th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.72.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $51.66 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.81. Occidental Petroleum has a 12-month low of $49.75 and a 12-month high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 137,163 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,069,000 after acquiring an additional 10,456 shares during the period. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,331,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,975,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth about $12,547,000. Finally, Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 124.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 57,416 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,959,000 after buying an additional 31,809 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.