Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its target price raised by stock analysts at UBS Group from $54.00 to $56.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. UBS Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.54% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on OXY. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.90.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY traded up $0.60 during trading on Thursday, reaching $51.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,511,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,271,775. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 1.55. Occidental Petroleum has a 12 month low of $45.17 and a 12 month high of $71.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 3,614,015 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. The trade was a 1.39 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 160.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.