Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $71.56.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on OXY. HSBC assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Citigroup cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY stock opened at $63.03 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.70. The company has a market cap of $55.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Occidental Petroleum has a 12-month low of $55.12 and a 12-month high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.50% and a net margin of 15.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 334,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $19,984,044.75. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 255,281,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,253,071,059. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have bought a total of 4,656,747 shares of company stock valued at $278,664,028 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $335,000. Pearl River Capital LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $284,000. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 95,708 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,210,000 after buying an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $383,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 7,326 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.