Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Stock Price

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $184.00 to $173.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on CVX. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Chevron from $194.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank downgraded Chevron from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.50.

Chevron Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE CVX opened at $134.55 on Tuesday. Chevron has a fifty-two week low of $132.04 and a fifty-two week high of $168.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $236.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $154.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.69.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.36). Chevron had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Chevron will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.08%. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 70.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total transaction of $1,422,062.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,192.50. This trade represents a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allianz SE purchased a new position in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,369,000. Nicholas Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chevron by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 80,025 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,591,000 after buying an additional 3,280 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Chevron by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 179,815 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,044,000 after acquiring an additional 2,755 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Chevron by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,205,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $174,817,000 after acquiring an additional 52,307 shares during the period. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Chevron during the fourth quarter valued at $594,000. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.