Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) Shares Sold by Optimum Investment Advisors

Optimum Investment Advisors cut its position in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 30.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,842 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,650 shares during the quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Chevron were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wallace Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Chevron by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,229 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC grew its stake in Chevron by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Chevron by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 4,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Chevron by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 15,240 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,416 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup upgraded Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James lowered their target price on Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Chevron presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chevron news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total transaction of $1,422,062.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,192.50. This represents a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Chevron Price Performance

Shares of CVX stock opened at $164.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $289.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $156.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.57. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $135.37 and a 1-year high of $167.11.

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

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.37%.

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.