Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

OXY has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a positive rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $70.21.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE OXY opened at $51.03 on Friday. 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 one year low of $49.75 and a one year high of $71.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $55.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 1.58.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 167 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

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.