Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Down 2% – Time to Sell?

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) fell 2% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $146.49 and last traded at $146.8080. 11,258,715 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 27% from the average session volume of 8,837,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CVX. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Chevron in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research downgraded Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Chevron from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Chevron in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Chevron from $204.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.00.

Chevron Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $295.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.91 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.28.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $48.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.99 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 6.57% and a return on equity of 8.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Chevron Corporation will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. Chevron’s payout ratio is 96.20%.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In other news, Director John B. Hess sold 275,000 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.75, for a total transaction of $41,456,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,128,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,052,783.75. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Solitude Financial Services boosted its position in Chevron by 8.2% in the second quarter. Solitude Financial Services now owns 25,325 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,626,000 after buying an additional 1,913 shares in the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Chevron by 21.4% during the second quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 51,115 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,319,000 after buying an additional 9,002 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chevron by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 88,759 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $13,743,000 after acquiring an additional 6,058 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC boosted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 16,694 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,390,000 after acquiring an additional 3,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 697,011 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $115,887,000 after acquiring an additional 142,662 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.