Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Position in Chevron Corporation $CVX

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 125,966 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,557 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Chevron were worth $18,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 420.7% during the 1st quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 151 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Chevron during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chevron during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 171.3% during the 1st quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 236 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chevron during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chevron Price Performance

Shares of CVX stock opened at $153.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $265.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.84. Chevron Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $132.04 and a fifty-two week high of $168.96. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $156.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $44.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.59 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 9.90% and a net margin of 7.02%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Chevron Corporation will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 88.03%.

Insider Activity at Chevron

In related news, Director John B. Hess sold 375,000 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.30, for a total transaction of $59,362,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,403,045 shares in the company, valued at $222,102,023.50. The trade was a 21.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 3,978 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $636,480.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 1,181 shares in the company, valued at $188,960. This represents a 77.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up from $143.00) on shares of Chevron in a report on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chevron in a research note on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Chevron from $186.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Chevron from $164.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Chevron in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $165.05.

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.