Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Sells 3,870 Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lessened its position in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 421,530 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,870 shares during the period. Chevron makes up about 0.5% of Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Chevron were worth $65,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its stake in shares of Chevron by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 126,093,326 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $18,808,081,000 after acquiring an additional 15,845,037 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Chevron during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,902,007,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Chevron by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,103,302 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,540,135,000 after purchasing an additional 654,482 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 3.2% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,009,766 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,525,380,000 after buying an additional 495,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Chevron by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,622,388 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,330,235,000 after buying an additional 1,797,171 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CVX. Mizuho raised their target price on Chevron from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Chevron from $203.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Chevron from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Chevron in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Chevron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $183.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.82.

Chevron Price Performance

Shares of CVX stock traded down $2.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $138.56. The company had a trading volume of 7,836,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,195,833. Chevron Co. has a 12-month low of $137.87 and a 12-month high of $171.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $253.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $150.82 and a 200-day moving average of $155.26.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.93 by ($0.38). Chevron had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 13.70%. The company had revenue of $51.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 11.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 59.98%.

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.