Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

CVX has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Chevron from $186.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Chevron from $192.00 to $191.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Chevron in a report on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Chevron from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chevron has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.40.

Chevron Stock Performance

CVX stock traded up $2.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $155.10. 9,829,977 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,824,952. Chevron has a 1-year low of $132.04 and a 1-year high of $168.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.62. The firm has a market cap of $268.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.83.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.14. Chevron had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 9.90%. The business had revenue of $48.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Chevron will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John B. Hess sold 375,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.30, for a total value of $59,362,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,403,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,102,023.50. This trade represents a 21.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 3,978 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $636,480.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,960. The trade was a 77.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Chevron by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,790,028 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,540,753,000 after purchasing an additional 27,961,463 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its holdings in Chevron by 2.9% in the second quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 122,064,792 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,478,458,000 after acquiring an additional 3,454,258 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its position in Chevron by 652,139.5% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 83,714,936 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $13,214,757,000 after acquiring an additional 83,702,101 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Chevron by 4.0% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,772,753 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,979,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Chevron by 1.9% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,826,805 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,982,190,000 after purchasing an additional 378,936 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.