Howard Capital Management Inc. Buys 598 Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,075 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Chevron were worth $2,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tacita Capital Inc boosted its position in Chevron by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 454 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Chevron by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,229 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its position in Chevron by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. boosted its position in Chevron by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 4,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC boosted its position in Chevron by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 9,033 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chevron presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.13.

Chevron Stock Performance

CVX stock opened at $156.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $282.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.11. Chevron Co. has a 12-month low of $135.37 and a 12-month high of $167.11. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.05.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share (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 firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is 70.37%.

Insider Activity at Chevron

In other Chevron 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 transaction of $1,422,062.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,192.50. The trade was a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.