Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Chevron (NYSE:CVX)

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 1,009,814 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,066% compared to the average daily volume of 46,615 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CVX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Chevron in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Chevron in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Freedom Capital downgraded Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Chevron from $158.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chevron news, Vice Chairman Mark A. Nelson sold 45,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.17, for a total transaction of $7,976,986.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,247,231.37. This trade represents a 86.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Hewitt Pate sold 41,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.40, for a total transaction of $7,256,037.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $735,411.60. This represents a 90.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 793,163 shares of company stock worth $127,920,502 over the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chevron

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,790,028 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,540,753,000 after buying an additional 27,961,463 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Chevron in the fourth quarter worth $3,727,586,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Chevron by 9.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 152,605,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $23,698,184,000 after purchasing an additional 12,789,399 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron during the 3rd quarter valued at $988,083,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 822.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,211,258 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $946,658,000 after purchasing an additional 5,537,580 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Chevron Price Performance

NYSE CVX traded up $1.25 on Friday, reaching $183.65. The company had a trading volume of 9,000,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,750,829. The stock has a market capitalization of $369.79 billion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 0.70. Chevron has a 12 month low of $132.04 and a 12 month high of $186.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $161.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $157.23.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $45.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.18 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 6.51%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Chevron will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.78 per share. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 102.70%.

Chevron News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Chevron this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity — traders purchased roughly 1,009,814 CVX call options (≈+2,066% vs. typical daily call volume), suggesting strong near‑term bullish bets and potential short‑term buying pressure as positions are hedged or stock is bought to cover.
• Positive Sentiment: Venezuela to grant more drilling blocks to Chevron, which could increase production access and reserves if the agreements are implemented and commercial activity expands. Venezuela to grant more oil drilling blocks to Chevron, Repsol
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron has begun processing Venezuelan crude at a Gulf Coast refinery (first public acknowledgment), which boosts near‑term feedstock supply and refinery margins if sour crude economics hold. Inside Chevron’s flagship refinery tapping into Venezuelan crude
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron awarded a prized Sirte Basin block in Libya, marking a re‑entry into a high‑potential basin that can meaningfully add long‑term upstream upside if development proceeds. Chevron to enter Libya after winning bid for prized Sirte Basin block
• Positive Sentiment: Operational strength in the Permian (reported ~1M boe/d) is highlighted as a driver of cash flow, efficiency gains and free‑cash‑flow discipline—supporting dividends and buybacks that investors prize. Chevron’s Permian scale drives cash flow and efficiency edge
• Neutral Sentiment: Bangchak acquired Chevron’s Hong Kong unit to support regional expansion—a noncore asset sale that likely has limited impact on global production but cleans up regional portfolio exposure. Bangchak acquires Chevron’s Hong Kong unit
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider filing: Chevron CTO Thomas Ryder Booth sold 5 shares (disclosed on Form 4). The size is immaterial and not a directional indicator. SEC Form 4 disclosure

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.