South Dakota Investment Council Sells 6,242 Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its holdings in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,194 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 6,242 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Chevron were worth $2,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. World Equity Group Inc. increased its holdings in Chevron by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 8,309 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the period. Delta Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Chevron during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,768,000. Atlantic Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Chevron during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $286,000. MONECO Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Chevron by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 20,516 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,971,000 after buying an additional 1,724 shares during the period. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. increased its holdings in Chevron by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 38,561 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,585,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.13.

Insider Activity at Chevron

In related news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at $161,192.50. The trade was a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Chevron Price Performance

Shares of CVX opened at $156.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Chevron Co. has a 1-year low of $135.37 and a 1-year high of $167.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $151.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.11.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 11.44%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 4.36%. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 70.37%.

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.