FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Reduces Stock Position in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lowered its position in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,342 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 790 shares during the period. Chevron makes up about 1.3% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Chevron were worth $5,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Chevron in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Chevron during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Chevron during the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 66.7% in the second quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chevron Stock Performance

NYSE CVX opened at $161.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Chevron Co. has a 1-year low of $135.37 and a 1-year high of $167.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $290.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.09.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.04. Chevron had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The firm had revenue of $50.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.05 earnings per share. Chevron’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Chevron Co. will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $685,356.40. This represents a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. DZ Bank raised Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Chevron from $168.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup upgraded Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Chevron from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.27.

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.