Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Down 0.3%

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) dropped 0.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $158.43 and last traded at $158.45. Approximately 1,748,220 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 8,564,295 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVX has been the topic of several recent research reports. DZ Bank lowered shares of Chevron from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Chevron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised shares of Chevron from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.55.

Chevron Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $290.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.83.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.19 by $0.26. Chevron had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 10.63%. The company had revenue of $47.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 13.28 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. This is an increase from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Chevron news, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.09, for a total transaction of $448,252.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,184.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CVX. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Chevron during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Valley Forge Investment Consultants Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 80.0% in the 3rd quarter. Valley Forge Investment Consultants Inc. ADV now owns 180 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Chevron Company Profile

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the integrated energy and chemicals operations in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification of liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas; and carbon capture and storage, as well as a gas-to-liquids plant.