Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) received a significant upgrade from Wall Street Zen, which lifted its rating from “buy” to “strong-buy” in a report released on Saturday. This upgrade comes as several other research firms have also recently weighed in on the stock. For example, Wells Fargo & Company raised its price target from $79.00 to $82.00 and maintained an “overweight” rating, while Barclays reduced its target price from $75.00 to $71.00 but kept an “overweight” rating. Meanwhile, Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage with a “hold” rating and a $68.00 target price. Despite these mixed signals, the stock currently has an average rating of “hold” with a consensus target price of $65.54, according to MarketBeat.
Institutional investors have shown considerable interest in Occidental Petroleum. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. acquired a new stake worth approximately $12.87 billion during the second quarter, while Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings by 1,329.2%. Other notable investors, including the Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio and the Swiss National Bank, also boosted their positions. As of now, 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Occidental Petroleum reported strong quarterly earnings, exceeding analysts’ estimates with $2.40 EPS compared to the expected $1.83. The company’s revenue for the quarter was $8.06 billion, up 53.4% year-over-year. With a market cap of $60.06 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.30, the stock opened at $60.09 on Friday. The company’s debt-to-equity ratio stands at 0.40, and its current ratio is 1.41.