Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Down 0.5% After Analyst Downgrade

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)’s stock price traded down 0.5% on Thursday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $174.00 to $171.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Chevron traded as low as $152.12 and last traded at $152.21. 1,922,592 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 7,718,407 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.99.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on CVX. Citigroup raised shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Chevron from $180.00 to $163.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. DZ Bank raised Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America began coverage on Chevron in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

In other news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.13, for a total value of $26,357,398.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,280 shares in the company, valued at $685,356.40. This represents a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chevron

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marietta Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chevron by 10.9% in the third quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 40,484 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,962,000 after buying an additional 3,965 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Chevron by 19.6% in the third quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 8,246 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Chevron by 11.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,108,760 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,581,137,000 after buying an additional 3,203,899 shares during the period. RPG Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Chevron by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 121,167 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Chevron by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 159,105,244 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $23,431,429,000 after purchasing an additional 874,962 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chevron Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $273.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.90. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 11.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. This is an increase from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.08%.

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.