Essex LLC Reduces Position in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Essex LLC trimmed its holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 7.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,423 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 190 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in Chevron were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich acquired a new stake in Chevron in the 1st quarter valued at about $289,000. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Chevron in the first quarter worth $201,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Chevron by 0.9% in the first quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 138,155 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $21,793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Chevron by 323.9% in the first quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 8,851 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 6,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Chevron by 57.2% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 43,295 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,829,000 after purchasing an additional 15,750 shares during the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chevron Price Performance

Shares of CVX traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $155.26. The stock had a trading volume of 8,271,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,943,612. The company’s fifty day moving average is $157.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $286.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Chevron Co. has a 52 week low of $139.62 and a 52 week high of $171.70.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The oil and gas company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. Chevron had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The company had revenue of $48.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 13.18 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. Chevron’s payout ratio is 59.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.23, for a total transaction of $600,862.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,429.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Chevron news, Director Enrique Hernandez, Jr. sold 2,549 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.24, for a total transaction of $421,196.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,581,279. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 3,750 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.23, for a total value of $600,862.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,429.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,746 shares of company stock valued at $2,727,971. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Chevron from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Chevron from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Chevron from $156.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.95.

Chevron 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.