Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Stephens

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by analysts at Stephens in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $71.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Stephens’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 39.78% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on OXY. StockNews.com lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna decreased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.71.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $50.80 on Wednesday. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $45.17 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18. The firm has a market cap of $47.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $49.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 15.89%. Analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have bought 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $494,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $1,437,000. GTS Securities LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 395.8% during the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 25,775 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 20,576 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 129.6% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 16,191 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 9,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headinvest LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 92.5% during the 4th quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 4,067 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.