American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,905,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 67,010 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.11% of Chevron worth $275,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Chevron during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Chevron during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Chevron during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Chevron during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Chevron by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 204 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

In other Chevron 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 directly owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at $161,192.50. This trade represents a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Stock Down 0.2 %

CVX stock opened at $164.37 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’s 50 day moving average is $156.29 and its 200 day moving average is $152.51. The stock has a market cap of $289.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08. Chevron Co. has a 1-year low of $135.37 and a 1-year high of $167.11.

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 in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a boost from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CVX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective 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. Raymond James dropped their price objective 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. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.13.

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.