Mizuho Securities USA LLC Increases Stock Position in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 43.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 158,401 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,107 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Chevron were worth $22,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CVX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,036,302,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,496,687 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,389,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,432,756 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,806,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,323,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910,262 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 0.6% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 22,996.9% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 847,425 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $122,741,000 after purchasing an additional 843,756 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVX opened at $164.37 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $289.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08. Chevron Co. has a twelve month low of $135.37 and a twelve month high of $167.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $156.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.51.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,192.50. This trade represents a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVX has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.13.

Chevron 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.