Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on OXY. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set a neutral rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an outperform rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $67.18.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $54.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $48.17 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76 and a beta of 1.57. 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 has a 52 week low of $49.75 and a 52 week high of $71.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $54.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.52.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% during the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. 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.