Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Down 2% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) traded down 2% during trading on Monday after DZ Bank downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a sell rating. DZ Bank now has a $130.00 price target on the stock. Chevron traded as low as $135.18 and last traded at $135.78. 2,587,966 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 7,948,796 shares. The stock had previously closed at $138.50.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Chevron from $173.00 to $164.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Chevron from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank lowered Chevron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $143.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic restated a "sell" rating and issued a $124.00 price target (down from $156.00) on shares of Chevron in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $161.25.

Insider Activity at Chevron

In other Chevron news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $161,192.50. The trade was a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,369,000. Nicholas Company Inc. raised its holdings in Chevron by 4.3% in 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 during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Chevron by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 179,815 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $26,044,000 after buying an additional 2,755 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Chevron by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,205,747 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $174,817,000 after acquiring an additional 52,307 shares during the period. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron during the fourth quarter worth about $594,000. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Chevron Price Performance

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 has a 50-day moving average of $148.95 and a 200-day moving average of $152.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.83.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.03. Chevron had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. The business had revenue of $47.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Chevron's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.05%. Chevron's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.17%.

Chevron Company 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.