Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.18.

OXY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. UBS Group cut 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, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY stock opened at $55.76 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.62. Occidental Petroleum has a 52-week low of $49.75 and a 52-week high of $71.18. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after purchasing an additional 19,586,612 shares in the last quarter. Himalaya Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter valued at approximately $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,744,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.