Chevron Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CVX)

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 54,082 call options on the company. This is an increase of 30% compared to the average volume of 41,529 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CVX. Wolfe Research raised Chevron from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. HSBC set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Chevron from $190.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $213.96.

Chevron Stock Up 2.4%

CVX stock traded up $5.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $232.08. 4,447,579 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,348,132. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.25. Chevron has a 1-year low of $146.49 and a 1-year high of $233.53. The company has a market cap of $458.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.11.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The oil and gas company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.55 by $0.51. Chevron had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 11.09%. The firm had revenue of $67.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.77 EPS. Chevron’s quarterly revenue was up 57.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Chevron will post 18.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $1.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Chevron’s payout ratio is presently 68.26%.

More Chevron News

Here are the key news stories impacting Chevron this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Chevron’s upcoming quarterly earnings to grow, with favorable earnings revisions and operating trends supporting the possibility of a consensus beat. Erste Group raised its FY2026 EPS estimate to $17.63 from $16.90, while the broader consensus is $18.12. Chevron earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron plans to invest approximately $13.8 billion to expand drilling in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale formation. Applying its Permian operating approach could accelerate production and create a significant long-term growth opportunity. Chevron Argentina investment
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron is in exclusive preliminary talks to operate Iraq’s West Qurna 2 field, where officials have outlined the potential to double production. Securing operatorship would expand CVX’s international production platform, although the agreement is not final. Chevron West Qurna 2 talks
• Positive Sentiment: The company is exploring a roughly $1 billion sale of mature U.S. Gulf assets to concentrate capital on newer offshore projects and longer-term production growth. Proceeds could improve portfolio efficiency, though final terms remain uncertain. Chevron Gulf asset sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America raised its Chevron price target to $252 from $227, adding analyst support after the stock’s strong rally; however, the higher valuation increases the importance of an earnings beat and constructive guidance. BofA raises Chevron price target
• Negative Sentiment: Director R. Hewitt Pate sold 43,100 shares for approximately $9.8 million across two transactions. Both sales were executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting their bearish significance, but the reduction in insider ownership may modestly weigh on sentiment. Chevron insider sales filing

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Wirth sold 317,100 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.46, for a total value of $63,565,866.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,273,701.68. This trade represents a 92.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Pate sold 40,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.65, for a total value of $9,224,655.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,992,480.15. The trade was a 82.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,195,682 shares of company stock valued at $235,619,780. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chevron

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Capital Inc. bought a new position in Chevron in the 2nd quarter valued at about $786,000. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Chevron in the 2nd quarter worth $973,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chevron during the second quarter valued at about $14,276,000. Greg Jennings LLC acquired a new position in Chevron in the third quarter worth about $1,314,000. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Chevron by 0.6% during the third quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 911,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $186,182,000 after buying an additional 5,787 shares during the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Chevron

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is an integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production, transportation and sale of crude oil and natural gas. Its upstream operations include oil and gas exploration and production, while its downstream business includes refining crude oil, marketing fuels and manufacturing and distributing lubricants, petrochemicals and fuel additives.

The company also invests in lower-carbon businesses and technologies, including renewable fuels, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and other opportunities intended to reduce emissions from its operations and energy products.