Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Up 0.9% After Analyst Upgrade

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 0.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $204.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Chevron traded as high as $158.04 and last traded at $157.82. Approximately 1,040,075 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 8,474,752 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.40.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CVX. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Chevron from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $184.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Chevron from $168.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Chevron from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $184.75.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In other news, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 2,800 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.09, for a total value of $448,252.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 276 shares in the company, valued at $44,184.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CVX. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P grew its position in Chevron by 85.1% during the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 159,115 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $25,908,000 after buying an additional 73,141 shares during the period. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in Chevron by 25.2% during the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 7,335 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,155,000 after buying an additional 1,476 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Chevron by 4.7% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 40,538 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $6,598,000 after buying an additional 1,813 shares during the period. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Chevron by 43.5% during the first quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,837 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $950,000 after buying an additional 1,770 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Chevron by 13.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,068,600 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $336,830,000 after buying an additional 250,840 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Chevron Price Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average is $155.26 and its 200-day moving average is $151.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $292.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.12.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.19 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $47.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.93 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The company's revenue was down 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.09 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Chevron Co. will post 13.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $1.63 dividend. This is a positive change from Chevron's previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Chevron's dividend payout ratio is presently 57.39%.

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.