Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service trimmed its holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,286,856 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 45,304 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Chevron were worth $476,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CVX. State Street Corp grew its stake 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Chevron by 11.5% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 3,203,899 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Chevron by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 19,482,388 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,869,171,000 after buying an additional 672,244 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Chevron by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,200,188 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,610,645,000 after buying an additional 573,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Chevron by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,496,687 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,389,380,000 after acquiring an additional 2,432,756 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Stock Performance

Chevron stock opened at $156.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07. Chevron Co. has a fifty-two week low of $135.37 and a fifty-two week high of $167.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $152.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.28. The company has a market capitalization of $281.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.11.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is an increase from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chevron news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total transaction of $1,422,062.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,192.50. This represents a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CVX. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.13.

Chevron 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.