Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Price Target Cut to $77.00 by Analysts at Susquehanna

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its price objective lowered by Susquehanna from $78.00 to $77.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a positive rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on OXY. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.72.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $51.65 on Friday. Occidental Petroleum has a 52 week low of $49.75 and a 52 week high of $71.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $54.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.86.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.3% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 137,163 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,069,000 after purchasing an additional 10,456 shares during the last quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,331,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $2,975,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter worth $12,547,000. Finally, Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 124.2% in the third quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 57,416 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,959,000 after acquiring an additional 31,809 shares during the period. 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.