Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Up 0.9% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) were up 0.9% on Friday . The company traded as high as $148.40 and last traded at $147.99. Approximately 1,337,659 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 4,169,073 shares. The stock had previously closed at $146.71.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Chevron from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. 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 note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Chevron from $168.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.19.

Chevron Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $266.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $153.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.27.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.04. Chevron had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company had revenue of $50.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 10.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.65%.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In other news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.13, for a total transaction of $26,357,398.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,280 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Modus Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 19,043 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 25,401 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,679,000 after buying an additional 5,044 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron in the fourth quarter worth about $261,000. Old Port Advisors grew its holdings in Chevron by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 17,240 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Chevron by 3.2% during the third quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,011 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,389,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.42% 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.