Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Coverage Initiated at Seaport Research Partners

Equities researchers at Seaport Research Partners began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Seaport Research Partners’ target price suggests a potential upside of 19.82% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on OXY. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Capital One Financial increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.83.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $60.93 on Thursday. 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 1.13, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $60.91 billion, a PE ratio of 9.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.32.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.57. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The business had revenue of $8.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 53.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, CEO Richard A. Jackson acquired 4,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.38 per share, with a total value of $249,852.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,261,853.24. This represents a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter valued at approximately $12,868,205,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 4,805.3% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 41,792,348 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,029,854,000 after buying an additional 40,940,366 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 84.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,643,916 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $516,975,000 after acquiring an additional 4,882,834 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter valued at approximately $172,413,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $168,860,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.