Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.16 EPS

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The oil and gas producer reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.16), Zacks reports. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 12.35%.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 2.7%

Occidental Petroleum stock traded up $1.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $47.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,301,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,660,312. Occidental Petroleum has a 52-week low of $34.78 and a 52-week high of $52.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.70 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Klesse purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 purchase, the director owned 218,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,533,228.74. This trade represents a 2.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rossby Financial LCC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 155.0% during the fourth quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 765 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Binnacle Investments Inc purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at $35,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.48.

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.