Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Given New $68.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $74.00 to $68.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,MarketScreener reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.48.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of OXY stock traded down $1.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $49.93. 12,765,591 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,505,179. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.78. The company has a market cap of $49.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 0.14. 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 has a 12 month low of $38.80 and a 12 month high of $67.45.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.44 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, CEO Richard A. Jackson acquired 4,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $52.38 per share, for a total transaction of $249,852.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at $23,261,853.24. The trade was a 1.09% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 68.5% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 750 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.