Chevron Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CVX)

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 60,561 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 49% compared to the average daily volume of 40,566 call options.

Chevron Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of CVX stock opened at $166.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Chevron has a twelve month low of $135.37 and a twelve month high of $168.96. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $157.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.21. The stock has a market cap of $293.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Chevron will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CVX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Chevron from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total transaction of $1,422,062.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at $161,192.50. This trade represents a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVX. United Bank raised its position in Chevron by 8.4% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 8,095 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Chevron by 315.2% in the third quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 11,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,651,000 after acquiring an additional 8,510 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in shares of Chevron by 7.2% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,413 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Chevron by 13.6% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 54,857 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,079,000 after acquiring an additional 6,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Chevron during the 3rd quarter worth $180,000. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.