West Coast Financial LLC Cuts Stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

West Coast Financial LLC decreased its holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,429 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 241 shares during the quarter. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Chevron were worth $383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Renaissance Investment Group LLC grew its position in Chevron by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 6,187 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $923,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at $254,000. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Chevron by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Lane & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Chevron during the 1st quarter worth about $345,000. Finally, Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Chevron by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 216,593 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,307,000 after purchasing an additional 3,603 shares during the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In other Chevron news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.23, for a total value of $600,862.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,429.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Chevron news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 3,750 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.23, for a total transaction of $600,862.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,429.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Enrique Hernandez, Jr. sold 2,549 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.00, for a total transaction of $410,389.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,167. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,546 shares of company stock valued at $3,176,223. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CVX shares. Scotiabank raised Chevron from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Chevron from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Chevron from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chevron in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Chevron from $180.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.95.

Chevron Price Performance

CVX traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $158.80. 2,978,211 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,047,649. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Chevron Co. has a 52-week low of $139.62 and a 52-week high of $171.70. The company has a market capitalization of $292.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.41.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The oil and gas company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. Chevron had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 10.21%. The business had revenue of $48.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.98%.

Chevron Profile

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.