Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Sells 15,437 Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. trimmed its stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 643,277 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 15,437 shares during the period. Chevron comprises about 1.9% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Chevron were worth $93,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Chevron by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 159,105,244 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $23,431,429,000 after acquiring an additional 874,962 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Chevron by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,855,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,613,960,000 after purchasing an additional 746,806 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Chevron by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 19,892,848 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,881,280,000 after purchasing an additional 410,460 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Chevron by 3.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,200,188 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,610,645,000 after purchasing an additional 573,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Chevron by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,496,687 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,389,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,432,756 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total transaction of $1,422,062.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,192.50. This trade represents a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on CVX. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Chevron from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup raised Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Chevron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.13.

Chevron Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Chevron stock opened at $152.63 on Thursday. Chevron Co. has a 1 year low of $135.37 and a 1 year high of $167.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $154.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.91. The company has a market capitalization of $268.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.36). Chevron had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.37%.

About Chevron

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.