Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Up 2.3% - Still a Buy?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 2.3% on Friday . The company traded as high as $140.10 and last traded at $140.06. Approximately 1,898,974 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 8,093,021 shares. The stock had previously closed at $136.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Chevron from $173.00 to $164.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Chevron from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Chevron from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Chevron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $160.00 to $143.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (down from $156.00) on shares of Chevron in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.24.

Chevron Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $244.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.83. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $138.98 and its 200 day moving average is $149.81.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $47.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $49.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.88%. Chevron's dividend payout ratio is presently 78.17%.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TFB Advisors LLC lifted its position in Chevron by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. lifted its position in Chevron by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 4,672 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Chevron by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 15,240 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Chevron by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 17,757 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,572,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Chevron by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is currently 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.