Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on OXY. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $58.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.19.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY opened at $48.99 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.92. Occidental Petroleum has a 52-week low of $45.17 and a 52-week high of $71.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,199,000. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 10,382 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $48,942,000 after buying an additional 50,983 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth approximately $2,509,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.