Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Given New $73.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Occidental Petroleum to $73 from $53 while keeping an "equal weight" rating, implying roughly a 25.7% upside from the prior close.
• Consensus among analysts is a "Hold" with an average target of $61.83; analyst tallies show 1 Strong Buy, 8 Buy, 15 Hold and 2 Sell ratings.
• Occidental traded near $58.09 midday (market cap ~$57.6B, P/E 36.1) and recently beat EPS estimates ($0.31 vs. $0.18) while missing revenue expectations; institutional investors own about 88.7% of the stock.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $53.00 to $73.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the oil and gas producer's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 25.67% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Truist Financial started coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Capital One Financial cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.83.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $58.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,513,257 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,637,813. The stock has a market cap of $57.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.10 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Occidental Petroleum has a twelve month low of $38.72 and a twelve month high of $67.45.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 9.14%.The company's revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 148.6% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 696 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. City Holding Co. boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 250.0% during the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. 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.

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