Essex LLC Lowers Stock Position in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Essex LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,236 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. Essex LLC’s holdings in Chevron were worth $324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Chevron by 19,404.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,901,390 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,218,280,000 after purchasing an additional 4,876,260 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in Chevron by 15,750.1% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,901,345 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $574,551,000 after buying an additional 3,876,731 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Chevron by 949.6% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,819,963 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $562,566,000 after acquiring an additional 3,456,008 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Chevron by 0.6% in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Price Performance

NYSE:CVX opened at $152.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $274.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $152.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.88. 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.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. 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 yield of 4.48%. Chevron’s payout ratio is presently 67.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CVX. Citigroup upgraded shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. DZ Bank raised Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America started coverage on Chevron in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chevron currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.13.

Insider Activity at Chevron

In other Chevron news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $685,356.40. The trade was a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.