Prosperity Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Prosperity Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,908 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Prosperity Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Chevron were worth $566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Chevron by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 204 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Chevron by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 57,810 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,373,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC lifted its stake in Chevron by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 18,203 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Chevron by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,499 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Chevron by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 250,873 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $36,336,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.13.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In related news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE CVX opened at $153.94 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $154.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.91. The company has a market cap of $271.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08. Chevron Co. has a 52-week low of $135.37 and a 52-week high of $167.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.37%.

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.