Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Down 0.7% – Should You Sell?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) shares fell 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $152.22 and last traded at $152.99. 2,211,176 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 7,501,162 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CVX. Citigroup raised shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Chevron from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Chevron has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.13.

Chevron Stock Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $270.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $154.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.92. 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 posted 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 return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

In other Chevron news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,017,750,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,036,302,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Chevron by 949.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,819,963 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $562,566,000 after purchasing an additional 3,456,008 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Chevron by 11.5% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 3,203,899 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Chevron by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,496,687 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,389,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,432,756 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.