Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 1,880 Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 58,352 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,880 shares during the period. Chevron comprises about 0.7% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Chevron were worth $8,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Chevron by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 159,105,244 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $23,431,429,000 after acquiring an additional 874,962 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Chevron by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,855,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,613,960,000 after buying an additional 746,806 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Chevron during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,017,750,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chevron by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 19,892,848 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,881,280,000 after buying an additional 410,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Chevron by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,200,188 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,610,645,000 after purchasing an additional 573,218 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 value of $1,422,062.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,192.50. The trade was a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVX has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James cut their target price on Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.13.

Chevron Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:CVX opened at $166.73 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $157.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07. Chevron Co. has a 52 week low of $135.37 and a 52 week high of $168.96. The company has a market capitalization of $293.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced 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 net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 11.44%. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.71 dividend. This is an increase from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is 70.37%.

Chevron Company 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.