Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. decreased its holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 34,325 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 978 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Chevron were worth $4,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVX. Lyell Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in Chevron by 9.5% in the second quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 57,388 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,977,000 after acquiring an additional 4,994 shares during the period. Williams Financial LLC bought a new position in Chevron in the second quarter worth $3,533,000. Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Chevron by 4.1% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 2,694 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Chevron in the second quarter worth $2,593,000. Finally, Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Chevron by 11.5% in the second quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 16,515 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $685,356.40. The trade was a 97.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Stock Performance

Shares of Chevron stock traded up $1.96 during trading on Monday, hitting $155.10. 5,835,258 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,273,333. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $278.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.95.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $50.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.86 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.05 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 10.5 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given 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 4.20%. Chevron’s payout ratio is 71.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CVX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Chevron from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on 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 price target on Chevron from $168.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America started coverage on Chevron in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $168.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Chevron from $205.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen 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 $174.87.

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.