Bank of America Initiates Coverage on Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY)

Research analysts at Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) in a report issued on Thursday, StockNewsAPI reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential upside of 11.20% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on OXY. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.78.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY opened at $51.26 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.02. 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 has a 52 week low of $49.75 and a 52 week high of $71.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01 and a beta of 1.57.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,583 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. BCS Wealth Management acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $229,000. Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $232,000. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 57,423 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,731,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bennett Selby Investments LP acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $205,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently 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.