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 research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Scotiabank cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an outperform rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. 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 %

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $51.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $56.00 and its 200 day moving average is $60.99. Occidental Petroleum has a 1 year low of $49.75 and a 1 year high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 237.9% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 756,862 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $45,192,000 after purchasing an additional 532,847 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $255,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 25,538.7% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,948 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,439 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 168.6% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 11,478 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 7,204 shares in the last quarter. 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.