Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. HSBC upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.43.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE OXY opened at $40.91 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.39. Occidental Petroleum has a 52 week low of $34.78 and a 52 week high of $53.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $40.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.21 and a beta of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 13.78%. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 56.80%.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at $1,274,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.6% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 17,086 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $843,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 9.7% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,596,699 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $78,813,000 after acquiring an additional 140,528 shares during the period. swisspartners Advisors Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at $6,006,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 77.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 139,086 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,843,000 after acquiring an additional 60,793 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.