Baird Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX - Free Report) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,705,299 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 6,367 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Chevron worth $246,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CVX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron during the fourth quarter worth $3,017,750,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Chevron during the fourth quarter valued at $1,036,302,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Chevron by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,496,687 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,389,380,000 after acquiring an additional 2,432,756 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Chevron by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,806,050 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,323,549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Chevron by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,079,656 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,039,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440,808 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at $161,192.50. This trade represents a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Chevron Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CVX traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $135.87. 9,896,842 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,982,014. 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 company has a market cap of $239.22 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $149.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.46. Chevron Co. has a one year low of $132.04 and a one year high of $168.96.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $47.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $49.05 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Chevron's payout ratio is 78.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CVX. DZ Bank downgraded Chevron from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Chevron from $173.00 to $164.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Barclays lowered shares of Chevron from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $171.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James decreased their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.25.

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.