Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Stock Price Down 5.2% – Here’s What Happened

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) shares fell 5.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $157.65 and last traded at $157.81. 4,974,417 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 7,612,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Chevron from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.13.

Chevron Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $157.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total value of $1,422,062.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,192.50. This represents a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chevron

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Chevron by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 159,105,244 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $23,431,429,000 after buying an additional 874,962 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Chevron by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 36,269,270 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,247,142,000 after purchasing an additional 392,916 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Chevron by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,855,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,613,960,000 after purchasing an additional 746,806 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Chevron during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,017,750,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Chevron by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,471,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,965,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394,091 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.