Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Price Target to $56.00

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $56.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 10.76% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.00.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $50.56. 5,002,134 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,710,072. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Occidental Petroleum has a 1-year low of $49.75 and a 1-year high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after acquiring an additional 19,586,612 shares in the last quarter. Himalaya Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at approximately $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,744,000. 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.