Morton Community Bank Purchases 395 Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Morton Community Bank lifted its position in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,352 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Chevron were worth $3,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Chevron by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 12,348 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,789,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in Chevron by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 125,216 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $18,136,000 after acquiring an additional 5,612 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Chevron by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,023 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $727,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chevron in the fourth quarter worth about $1,491,000. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chevron by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 792,982 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $114,855,000 after purchasing an additional 15,507 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CVX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.13.

Chevron Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE:CVX opened at $156.48 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $154.08 and a 200 day moving average of $151.78. Chevron Co. has a 52 week low of $135.37 and a 52 week high of $167.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.36). Chevron had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 11.44%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.45 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is an increase from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Chevron’s payout ratio is presently 70.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total value of $1,422,062.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,192.50. This represents a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.