New Century Financial Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

New Century Financial Group LLC reduced its position in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX - Free Report) by 10.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,019 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 1,827 shares during the period. Chevron accounts for approximately 3.1% of New Century Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. New Century Financial Group LLC's holdings in Chevron were worth $2,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Chevron in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 10Elms LLP bought a new position in Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Chevron by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 204 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Chevron by 119.6% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 213 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CVX. HSBC lowered Chevron from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $176.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Redburn Atlantic restated a "sell" rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (down from $156.00) on shares of Chevron in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank lowered shares of Chevron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $160.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays cut shares of Chevron from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Chevron from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Chevron presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $160.24.

Chevron Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Chevron stock traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $145.74. 14,126,704 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,174,592. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $138.53 and a 200-day moving average of $149.20. Chevron Co. has a 12 month low of $132.04 and a 12 month high of $168.96. The company has a market cap of $254.52 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.03. Chevron had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 11.44%. The firm had revenue of $47.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $49.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.69%. Chevron's payout ratio is 78.17%.

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.