Piper Sandler Cuts Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Price Target to $173.00

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) had its target price trimmed by Piper Sandler from $184.00 to $173.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on CVX. DZ Bank raised shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Chevron from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Chevron from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Chevron from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Chevron from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.19.

Chevron Price Performance

CVX opened at $142.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $256.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.10. Chevron has a 12 month low of $135.37 and a 12 month high of $167.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.92.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.04. Chevron had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company had revenue of $50.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.05 earnings per share. Chevron’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Chevron will post 10.5 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 71.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $685,356.40. This represents a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Chevron by 0.6% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 874,962 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 11.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,203,899 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Chevron by 3.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 19,482,388 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,869,171,000 after acquiring an additional 672,244 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Chevron by 3.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 573,218 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Chevron by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 17,111,051 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,676,957,000 after purchasing an additional 501,969 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

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.