Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Price Target Cut to $78.00 by Analysts at Susquehanna

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its target price decreased by Susquehanna from $81.00 to $78.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on OXY. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an outperform rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Mizuho upped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Stephens reissued an overweight rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $71.50.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY stock opened at $54.62 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.99. Occidental Petroleum has a 12-month low of $54.58 and a 12-month high of $71.18. The firm has a market cap of $49.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92 and a beta of 1.58.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 584,550 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $60.26 per share, for a total transaction of $35,224,983.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 251,168,155 shares in the company, valued at $15,135,393,020.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 4,132,407 shares of company stock worth $247,334,713. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after buying an additional 19,586,612 shares during the last quarter. Himalaya Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter worth about $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at approximately $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,744,000. Hedge funds and other 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.