Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

OXY has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.21.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of OXY opened at $51.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.92. Occidental Petroleum has a 1 year low of $49.75 and a 1 year high of $71.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 19,586,612 shares during the last quarter. Himalaya Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter worth approximately $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter worth $42,744,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.