StockNews.com Upgrades Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) to “Hold”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.71.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of OXY opened at $51.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $47.86 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.44. Occidental Petroleum has a 1-year low of $45.17 and a 1-year high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 15.98%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $14,199,000. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 10,382 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,942,000 after acquiring an additional 50,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $2,509,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% 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.