Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 0% – Still a Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price was up 0% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $50.63 and last traded at $50.18. Approximately 1,438,316 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 9,098,840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on OXY shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.72.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $45.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $53.09 and a 200 day moving average of $58.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. CapWealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% in the first quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,911 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% in the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 9,088 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.