Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.78.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $50.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.09. Occidental Petroleum has a 12 month low of $49.51 and a 12 month high of $71.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 1.58.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 160.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at $32,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.