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

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

OXY has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James raised their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.71.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 4.4 %

OXY traded up $2.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.00. 27,199,943 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,553,355. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.00. Occidental Petroleum has a one year low of $45.17 and a one year high of $71.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.45.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last 90 days. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 160.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.