First Merchants Corp Sells 1,001 Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

First Merchants Corp decreased its position in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,022 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,001 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Chevron were worth $7,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Chevron during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chevron during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Chevron during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chevron in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Chevron from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Chevron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total value of $1,422,062.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,192.50. The trade was a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CVX opened at $156.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07. Chevron Co. has a 52 week low of $135.37 and a 52 week high of $167.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $280.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.92 and a 200-day moving average of $150.84.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.36). Chevron had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 11.44%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 10.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Chevron’s payout ratio is presently 67.08%.

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.