Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) Stake Lifted by Greenleaf Trust

Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,910 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Chevron were worth $8,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the third quarter worth $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the third quarter worth $29,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the third quarter worth $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Chevron Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of Chevron stock opened at $149.21 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $153.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.09. The company has a market cap of $268.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Chevron Co. has a 1 year low of $135.37 and a 1 year high of $167.11.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced 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 return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 11.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chevron news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.13, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CVX. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Chevron from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup raised 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 research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Chevron from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America began coverage on Chevron in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Chevron from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Chevron presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.27.

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.