Scotiabank Downgrades Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) to Sector Perform

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) was downgraded by analysts at Scotiabank from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $40.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 6.15% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Raymond James cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.71.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 3.3 %

OXY stock opened at $37.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.05. Occidental Petroleum has a twelve month low of $34.79 and a twelve month high of $71.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 103,072 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,312,000 after purchasing an additional 7,882 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 42.8% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 5,797 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 1,738 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 50,428 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,599,000 after buying an additional 13,245 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,576 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 2,697 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1,181.3% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 65,437 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,373,000 after acquiring an additional 60,330 shares in the last quarter. 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.