Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Down 1.6% – Time to Sell?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) fell 1.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $158.42 and last traded at $158.97. 2,461,822 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 7,389,133 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Chevron in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Chevron from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Chevron from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.27.

Chevron Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $280.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $154.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.11.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $48.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.05 earnings per share. Chevron’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

In other Chevron news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.13, for a total transaction of $26,357,398.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $685,356.40. This trade represents a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Chevron by 19,404.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,901,390 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,218,280,000 after buying an additional 4,876,260 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 15,750.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,901,345 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $574,551,000 after acquiring an additional 3,876,731 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Chevron by 949.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,819,963 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $562,566,000 after purchasing an additional 3,456,008 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,203,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Chevron by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 159,105,244 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $23,431,429,000 after buying an additional 874,962 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

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.