Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Evercore

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) was upgraded by Evercore from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $65.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Evercore’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 25.72% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on OXY. Barclays upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $72.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.48.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 5.9%

OXY stock opened at $51.70 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.27. The company has a market cap of $51.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 0.15. Occidental Petroleum has a 12-month low of $38.80 and a 12-month high of $67.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.44 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 19.98%.The firm’s revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, CEO Richard A. Jackson acquired 4,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.38 per share, for a total transaction of $249,852.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at $23,261,853.24. This trade represents a 1.09% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $22,345,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 154.7% in the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 29,566 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 17,958 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,084,356 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,589,000 after purchasing an additional 124,879 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,900,677 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,696,716,000 after purchasing an additional 699,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooperman Leon G acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $15,947,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.