Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Down 1.9% - Should You Sell?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) shares traded down 1.9% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $134.96 and last traded at $136.63. 3,370,588 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 8,827,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $139.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CVX. Scotiabank lowered shares of Chevron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $143.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $124.00 price target (down previously from $156.00) on shares of Chevron in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James lowered their price objective on 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 Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $165.27.

Chevron Trading Up 0.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $240.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. The business's 50-day moving average is $150.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

Chevron Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. Chevron's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.37%.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In related 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CVX. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 36,269,270 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,247,142,000 after acquiring an additional 392,916 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 2.4% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 746,806 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,017,750,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Chevron by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,471,800 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,965,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 19,892,848 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,881,280,000 after buying an additional 410,460 shares during the period. 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.