Balentine LLC Sells 3,216 Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Balentine LLC reduced its stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 36.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,585 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,216 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Chevron were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Chevron in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron during the third quarter worth about $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Chevron during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Chevron in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Chevron in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

In other news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Chevron Price Performance

Chevron stock opened at $155.76 on Tuesday. Chevron Co. has a 12-month low of $135.37 and a 12-month high of $167.11. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $152.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.11.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.36). Chevron had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 10.84 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. This is a boost from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Chevron’s payout ratio is presently 67.08%.

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.