Exchange Capital Management Inc. Sells 318 Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Exchange Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 318 shares during the quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Chevron were worth $536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVX. Tacita Capital Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 16.7% in the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 454 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Wallace Capital Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 worth $677,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake in shares of Chevron by 0.7% during the third quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 9,033 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. DZ Bank raised shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.13.

Chevron Stock Performance

CVX opened at $156.38 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $152.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.28. The company has a market cap of $281.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Chevron Co. has a 52-week low of $135.37 and a 52-week high of $167.11.

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 return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 4.37%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.37%.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In related news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,192.50. This represents a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.