Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

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

OXY has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.19.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $48.87 on Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum has a 12-month low of $45.17 and a 12-month high of $71.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $45.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $49.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.81.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 22.92%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 2,477,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $46.25 per share, with a total value of $114,577,992.50. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 257,758,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,921,348,477.50. The trade was a 0.97 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. AXA S.A. increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 31,721 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 80,581 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,077,000 after acquiring an additional 8,327 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 0.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 527,412 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.7% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,067 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KGH Ltd bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $5,295,000. 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.