Chevron Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CVX)

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 60,561 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 49% compared to the average daily volume of 40,566 call options.

Chevron Stock Up 1.2 %

CVX traded up $2.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $167.95. 10,074,352 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,351,854. Chevron has a one year low of $135.37 and a one year high of $168.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $156.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.01. The company has a market cap of $295.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. This is a boost from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 70.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on CVX shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Chevron from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.13.

Insider Transactions 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 stock was sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total transaction of $1,422,062.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CVX. State Street Corp grew its position in Chevron by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 159,105,244 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $23,431,429,000 after buying an additional 874,962 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Chevron by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 80,025 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,591,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280 shares in the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the fourth quarter worth approximately $594,000. Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in Chevron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $729,000. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its position in Chevron by 3,942.6% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 200,998 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $29,113,000 after purchasing an additional 196,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

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.