Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Stock Price Down 3.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) were down 3.7% on Wednesday after DZ Bank downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. DZ Bank now has a $240.00 price target on the stock. Chevron traded as low as $214.61 and last traded at $216.9420. Approximately 11,531,926 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 10,279,759 shares. The stock had previously closed at $225.27.

CVX has been the subject of a number of other reports. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Chevron from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Chevron from $208.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Chevron from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Chevron from $207.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Chevron currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

In related news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 317,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.46, for a total transaction of $63,565,866.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,273,701.68. This trade represents a 92.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider R. Pate sold 40,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.65, for a total transaction of $9,224,655.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,992,480.15. This represents a 82.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 379,470 shares of company stock valued at $77,216,415 in the last ninety days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Chevron News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Chevron this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Chevron and ExxonMobil reported strong third-quarter results, with refining strength and cost discipline supporting earnings. Both companies are also reducing debt and increasing buybacks, which could support shareholder returns. Why ExxonMobil and Chevron Reminded Investors to Keep it Simple
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron is advancing talks for Iraq’s West Qurna 2 oilfield and pursuing additional projects in the country, potentially expanding its upstream growth opportunities. Chevron Advances Iraq Oilfield Deal, Expands Growth Prospects
• Negative Sentiment: Oil shares fell after Democrats won the Senate. The result may have prompted investor concerns about the political outlook for the oil industry, weighing on CVX alongside other energy stocks. Oil Stocks Take a Beating on Midterm Results
• Negative Sentiment: Recent signals of possible Iran peace talks have also heightened concern about lower oil prices, a potential headwind for producers, though reports of military strikes have added uncertainty to the outlook. Iran Settlement Signals and Oil Prices

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its position in shares of Chevron by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 221,389 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,210,000 after buying an additional 34,168 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Chevron by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 24,272 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,957,000 after buying an additional 3,628 shares during the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC grew its position in shares of Chevron by 1,627.4% in the 3rd quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 43,099 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,801,000 after buying an additional 40,604 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Chevron by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,162,074 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $237,307,000 after buying an additional 21,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Chevron during the 3rd quarter worth $231,000. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chevron Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $428.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $214.06 and its 200 day moving average is $193.68.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The oil and gas company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.87 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $65.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.82 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 14.64%. Chevron’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Chevron Corporation will post 18.20 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be paid a $1.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

About Chevron

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is an integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production, transportation and sale of crude oil and natural gas. Its upstream operations include oil and gas exploration and production, while its downstream business includes refining crude oil, marketing fuels and manufacturing and distributing lubricants, petrochemicals and fuel additives.

The company also invests in lower-carbon businesses and technologies, including renewable fuels, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and other opportunities intended to reduce emissions from its operations and energy products.