Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Down 5.2% – Time to Sell?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) shares traded down 5.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $145.21 and last traded at $148.03. 4,845,042 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 7,642,338 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CVX. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial cut their price target on Chevron from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.13.

Chevron Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $251.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $157.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.18.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business earned $3.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. Chevron’s payout ratio is 70.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allianz SE bought a new stake in Chevron during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,369,000. Nicholas Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Chevron by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 80,025 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,591,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280 shares in the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron during the fourth quarter worth $594,000. Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at $729,000. Finally, Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Chevron in the 4th quarter worth $791,000. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.