Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Up 1.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)’s stock price was up 1.8% during trading on Wednesday after Melius Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Melius Research now has a $205.00 price target on the stock. Chevron traded as high as $183.92 and last traded at $183.7490. Approximately 10,303,592 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average daily volume of 12,584,943 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.55.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Chevron from $180.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Bank of America cut their target price on Chevron from $183.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Mizuho raised their price target on Chevron from $204.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Chevron from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Chevron currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Eimear P. Bonner sold 32,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.01, for a total transaction of $5,617,821.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,093.66. The trade was a 88.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew Benjamin Walz sold 666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.40, for a total transaction of $122,144.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $268,314.20. The trade was a 31.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 806,027 shares of company stock valued at $130,289,680. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Chevron

Here are the key news stories impacting Chevron this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Chevron-led consortium won four offshore lease blocks in Greece (Chevron will operate with ~70% interest), expanding its Mediterranean exploration footprint and adding long?term upstream optionality. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron raised its quarterly dividend (new quarterly amount $1.78; annualized ~$7.12), reinforcing income appeal as Treasury yields have eased and supporting demand from yield?focused investors. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Energy sector leadership year?to?date is boosting interest in integrated majors like Chevron; sector momentum can lift CVX but also encourages rotation and valuation debates. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent analyst and media comparisons (Chevron vs. Exxon/Conoco) are increasing coverage and short?term volume—useful for trading activity but not immediate proof of fundamental change. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: recent filings show Andrew Walz and CTO Thomas Ryder Booth sold CVX shares (small relative to total float but notable to some investors), which can be perceived as a near?term negative signal. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market largely ignored a Melius Research upgrade and $205 price target; shares dipped after the announcement, suggesting the upgrade alone isn’t shifting investor conviction. Read More.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Castellan Group raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Castellan Group now owns 20,405 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Chevron by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 11,079 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its stake in shares of Chevron by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 4,471 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $640,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its position in Chevron by 9.0% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 50,839 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,280,000 after purchasing an additional 4,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Chevron by 11.9% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,793 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $369.98 billion, a PE ratio of 27.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 8.23%. Chevron’s revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Chevron Corporation will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

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

About Chevron

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.