Chevron Corporation $CVX Shares Sold by Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.

Key Points

• Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. cut its Chevron stake by 60% in the fourth quarter, selling 26,861 shares and leaving it with 17,924 shares valued at about $2.73 million.
• Several other institutional investors increased their holdings, and institutions overall still own 72.42% of Chevron’s shares, indicating continued broad Wall Street interest.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive but mixed: Chevron has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $205.70, even as some firms trimmed targets and Zacks Research downgraded the stock from strong-buy to hold.

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. lowered its position in shares of Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX - Free Report) by 60.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,924 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 26,861 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.'s holdings in Chevron were worth $2,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First American Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 194.4% during the 4th quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 17,670 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,693,000 after purchasing an additional 11,668 shares during the period. Wills Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Wills Financial Group LLC now owns 41,832 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $6,376,000 after purchasing an additional 2,675 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,185,126 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $637,855,000 after purchasing an additional 179,388 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,646 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares during the period. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CVX. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Chevron from $216.00 to $204.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. HSBC raised shares of Chevron from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Chevron from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Chevron from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Chevron from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $174.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.70.

Chevron News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Chevron this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Chevron was highlighted as one of the top oil stocks to buy as energy investors look for resilient names, with articles emphasizing its defensive cash flows and income appeal. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary on Chevron’s Guyana assets pointed to a combined $7.6 billion profit for ExxonMobil and Chevron last year, reinforcing the value of its low-cost production base amid geopolitical tensions. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron was also featured in a bullish technical forecast saying momentum is improving and buyers may be regaining control as the stock approaches a breakout level. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Chevron is advancing a major shale project in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta basin and moving closer to approval for a $13.8 billion investment could support future production growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Chevron continues to attract attention as a dividend stock for retirement portfolios, which supports the investment case but does not represent a new catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Chevron from strong-buy to hold, which could temper enthusiasm despite the stock’s otherwise constructive news flow. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

In other news, Director John B. Hess sold 380,000 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.20, for a total transaction of $73,416,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 278,045 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,718,294. The trade was a 57.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Hewitt Pate sold 40,200 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.30, for a total transaction of $8,574,660.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,842,485.40. This trade represents a 82.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 615,200 shares of company stock valued at $118,022,760. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Chevron Stock Performance

Shares of CVX stock opened at $189.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Chevron Corporation has a 52 week low of $142.40 and a 52 week high of $214.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $378.19 billion, a PE ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $189.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.75.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.41. Chevron had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 6.90%. The company had revenue of $47.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $51.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.18 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Chevron Corporation will post 15.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $1.78 per share. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. Chevron's payout ratio is 123.40%.

Chevron Company Profile

Chevron Corporation NYSE: CVX is an American multinational energy company engaged in virtually all aspects of the oil and gas industry. As an integrated energy firm, Chevron's core activities include upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production, midstream transportation and storage, downstream refining and marketing of fuels and lubricants, and petrochemical manufacturing through joint ventures and subsidiaries. The company markets fuels under brands such as Chevron, Texaco and Caltex and supplies a range of products and services to retail customers, industrial users and commercial fleets worldwide.

Chevron traces its corporate lineage to the early petroleum companies that eventually became Standard Oil of California and has evolved through significant mergers and restructurings, including the acquisitions of Gulf Oil and Texaco.

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