Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its price target increased by investment analysts at UBS Group from $54.00 to $56.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 8.54% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on OXY. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.90.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of OXY stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $51.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,511,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,271,775. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.44. Occidental Petroleum has a 52-week low of $45.17 and a 52-week high of $71.18. The company has a market capitalization of $48.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 3,614,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have acquired 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 160.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.