Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley cut its price target on Occidental Petroleum from $74 to $68, while keeping an Equal Weight view. The new target still implies upside from the prior close, but reflects more cautious expectations.
• Analyst sentiment on OXY is mixed: the stock has a Hold consensus with a $63.48 average price target, based on nine Buy ratings, sixteen Hold ratings, and one Sell rating. Several other firms recently adjusted their views and targets, mostly staying in the middle of the road.
• Occidental reported better-than-expected EPS of $1.06 in its latest quarter, though revenue came in below estimates and fell 8.3% year over year. The company’s CEO also bought shares recently, and institutional investors continue to own the vast majority of the stock.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $74.00 to $68.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,MarketScreener reports. Morgan Stanley's price target points to a potential upside of 36.19% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Argus raised shares of Occidental Petroleum to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Capital One Financial increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.48.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY stock opened at $49.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $49.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 0.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.78. Occidental Petroleum has a 52 week low of $38.80 and a 52 week high of $67.45. 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 (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.44 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, CEO Richard A. Jackson purchased 4,770 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $52.38 per share, for a total transaction of $249,852.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at $23,261,853.24. This trade represents a 1.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,900,677 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,696,716,000 after buying an additional 699,137 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,539,743 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,635,263,000 after acquiring an additional 828,848 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,846,231 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $771,949,000 after purchasing an additional 167,518 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,602,660 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $436,008,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,721 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,730,847 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $276,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,948 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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