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

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $71.56.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on OXY shares. HSBC started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 1,386,844 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $82,752,981.48. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 250,583,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,952,323,710.35. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have bought 4,656,747 shares of company stock valued at $278,664,028. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CapWealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% during the first quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% during the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $957,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $62.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $63.14 and a 200-day moving average of $61.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Occidental Petroleum has a 12 month low of $55.12 and a 12 month high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 17.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

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.