Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on OXY. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.18.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 1.8 %

OXY stock opened at $55.76 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $55.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.62. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $49.75 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18. The company has a market capitalization of $49.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. CapWealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 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. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,911 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.