Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 1.2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price traded up 1.2% on Thursday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $71.00. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $64.56 and last traded at $64.43. 1,697,886 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 8,403,294 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.68.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on OXY. StockNews.com raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HSBC began coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,552,271,000 after acquiring an additional 19,586,612 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,995,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $357,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,052 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,665,494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $302,697,000 after buying an additional 125,927 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,699,722 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $220,910,000 after buying an additional 82,360 shares during the period. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 51.7% in the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 2,340,465 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $139,749,000 after buying an additional 797,894 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $65.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.36. The company has a market cap of $56.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 1.64.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 20.63%. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.51%.

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.