Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.13 EPS

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13, Zacks reports. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 15.89%.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $48.98 on Wednesday. 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 has a twelve month low of $45.17 and a twelve month high of $71.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $49.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.45. The firm has a market cap of $45.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 1.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Mizuho reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.71.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 2,477,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.25 per share, for a total transaction of $114,577,992.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 257,758,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,921,348,477.50. This trade represents a 0.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders acquired a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.48% 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.