Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Down 1% – Time to Sell?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) shares fell 1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $153.07 and last traded at $153.15. 1,378,725 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 7,653,081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Chevron from $168.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Chevron from $180.00 to $163.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Chevron from $205.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Chevron from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.13.

Chevron Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $155.35 and a 200 day moving average of $152.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $276.52 billion, a PE ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.13, for a total transaction of $26,357,398.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $685,356.40. The trade was a 97.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Chevron by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 159,105,244 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $23,431,429,000 after purchasing an additional 874,962 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Chevron by 3.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 19,482,388 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,869,171,000 after acquiring an additional 672,244 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Chevron by 3.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,200,188 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,610,645,000 after acquiring an additional 573,218 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Chevron by 3.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 17,111,051 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,676,957,000 after purchasing an additional 501,969 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Company Profile

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.