Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Up 0.6% – Should You Buy?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) traded up 0.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $151.18 and last traded at $150.48. 1,793,615 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 5,635,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Chevron from $180.00 to $163.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Chevron from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Chevron from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup raised Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Chevron from $168.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.19.

Chevron Price Performance

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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.10. The stock has a market cap of $268.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.12.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $50.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.86 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 8.44%. Chevron’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.05 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 71.65%.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In other news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CVX. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Chevron by 19,404.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,901,390 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,218,280,000 after buying an additional 4,876,260 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Chevron by 15,750.1% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,901,345 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $574,551,000 after acquiring an additional 3,876,731 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Chevron by 949.6% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,819,963 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $562,566,000 after acquiring an additional 3,456,008 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,203,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Chevron by 55.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,537,859 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,335,492,000 after purchasing an additional 3,048,819 shares during 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.