Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $55.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank reduced their target price 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, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $67.18.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $55.76 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.44 billion, a PE ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 1.57.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% during the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. 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.