The Goldman Sachs Group Has Lowered Expectations for Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its price target reduced by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $43.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a “sell” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target indicates a potential downside of 7.09% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on OXY. Mizuho upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.57.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of OXY stock traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $44.13. 11,388,926 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,287,986. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.36. The company has a market cap of $43.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45 and a beta of 0.38. Occidental Petroleum has a 12 month low of $34.78 and a 12 month high of $52.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.66 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, Director William R. Klesse purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were acquired 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 represents a 2.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,201,540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,214,773,000 after purchasing an additional 697,521 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,044,478 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,649,147,000 after buying an additional 615,566 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,089,878 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $756,796,000 after buying an additional 3,267,269 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,718,939 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $412,045,000 after acquiring an additional 900,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% in the second quarter. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can now owns 6,050,418 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $254,118,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.