Chevron Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CVX)

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 93,873 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 157% compared to the typical daily volume of 36,581 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CVX. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $163.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America began coverage on Chevron in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on Chevron from $205.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Chevron from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.93.

Chevron Price Performance

CVX opened at $161.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $290.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.71. Chevron has a 12-month low of $135.37 and a 12-month high of $167.11.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $50.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.86 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.05 EPS. Research analysts predict that Chevron will post 10.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.65%.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVX. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Chevron during the 1st quarter valued at $566,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Chevron by 5.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 429,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $67,670,000 after acquiring an additional 22,047 shares during the period. Wintrust Investments LLC boosted its position in Chevron by 1.6% in the first quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC now owns 10,066 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Chevron during the 1st quarter valued at about $16,280,000. Finally, Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Chevron by 38.4% during the 1st quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,939 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,356,000 after purchasing an additional 4,148 shares during the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.