Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Has $4.97 Million Stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,325 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 978 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Chevron were worth $4,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chevron by 66.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CVX shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Chevron from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Chevron from $205.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Chevron in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Chevron from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chevron news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.13, for a total value of $26,357,398.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $685,356.40. This represents a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Chevron Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVX traded up $1.96 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $155.10. The company had a trading volume of 5,835,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,273,333. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $153.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.95. 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 stock has a market cap of $278.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.12. Chevron Co. has a 52-week low of $135.37 and a 52-week high of $167.11.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.04. Chevron had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $50.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 10.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.65%.

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.