StockNews.com Upgrades Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) to Hold

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

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.90.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of OXY stock opened at $50.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.41. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $45.17 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. Equities research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders acquired a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.2% during the third quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,241 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Empire Financial Management Company LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% in the third quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 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.