Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Raised to “Hold” at Argus

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) was upgraded by investment analysts at Argus to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays lifted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.95.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY opened at $53.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Occidental Petroleum has a 1 year low of $34.78 and a 1 year high of $53.33. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.93. The firm has a market cap of $52.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.95 and a beta of 0.41.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The company’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, Director William R. Klesse bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.98 per share, for a total transaction of $194,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 218,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,533,228.74. This trade represents a 2.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 224.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 7,859 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 5,435 shares during the period. MidFirst Bank bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $91,000. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 26,071 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,730,847 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $276,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,948 shares during the period. Finally, Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental’s operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.