Jennison Associates LLC Lowers Holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Jennison Associates LLC decreased its position in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 810,434 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 159,559 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Chevron were worth $120,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Chevron by 15,548.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,202,411 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,776,720,000 after buying an additional 3,181,946 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Chevron by 7.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 34,166,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,761,223,000 after buying an additional 2,244,995 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Chevron in the third quarter worth approximately $348,789,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Chevron by 36.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,614,498 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $778,097,000 after buying an additional 1,230,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Chevron by 28.3% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,179,942 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $704,822,000 after buying an additional 923,119 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In related news, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.09, for a total transaction of $448,252.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,184.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Price Performance

Shares of CVX opened at $162.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Chevron Co. has a 1-year low of $139.62 and a 1-year high of $172.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $155.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.66.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.19 by $0.26. Chevron had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The firm had revenue of $47.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Chevron Co. will post 13.58 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CVX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on Chevron from $185.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Scotiabank raised Chevron from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Chevron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.75.

Chevron 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.