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 Friday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on OXY. Wolfe Research started coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.00.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE OXY traded up $1.12 on Friday, reaching $51.03. 15,677,771 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,765,933. Occidental Petroleum has a 12 month low of $49.75 and a 12 month high of $71.18. The company has a market cap of $45.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 1.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter worth $44,000. 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.