Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Up 2.3% - Should You Buy?

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC lowered Chevron from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $176.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Chevron from $173.00 to $162.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. DZ Bank lowered Chevron from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Chevron from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Chevron to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chevron currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $160.24.

Chevron Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $245.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.65.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.18 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $47.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $49.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Chevron's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Chevron's dividend payout ratio is presently 78.17%.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CVX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron during the fourth quarter worth about $3,017,750,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron during the first quarter worth about $1,466,751,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron during the first quarter worth about $1,362,232,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron during the fourth quarter worth about $1,036,302,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Chevron by 21,191.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,408,248 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $904,746,000 after purchasing an additional 5,382,847 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.