Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Up 0.9% – Here’s What Happened

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)’s stock price shot up 0.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $164.68 and last traded at $164.00. 1,991,323 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 7,634,852 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CVX. Citigroup upgraded shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their target price on Chevron from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Chevron from $196.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. DZ Bank raised Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Chevron from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.56.

Chevron Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.32 and a 200 day moving average of $152.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $50.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.86 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.05 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 10.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.13, for a total transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marietta Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chevron by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 40,484 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,962,000 after buying an additional 3,965 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Chevron by 19.6% during the third quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 8,246 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in 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. RPG Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Chevron by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 121,167 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Garner Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Chevron by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 19,997 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,128,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is owned by 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.