Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

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

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on OXY. Barclays decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.78.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $50.35. 9,492,883 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,225,737. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $52.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.25. The firm has a market cap of $45.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.58. 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 has a 52 week low of $49.51 and a 52 week high of $71.18.

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

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% during the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 9,088 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 0.6% during the second 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. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 17,592 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.