Investors Buy Large Volume of Chevron Call Options (NYSE:CVX)

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 102,363 call options on the company. This is an increase of 174% compared to the typical volume of 37,331 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CVX. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Chevron from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James dropped their price target on Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.13.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In related news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,192.50. This trade represents a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tacita Capital Inc increased its holdings in Chevron by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 454 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Wallace Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Chevron by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,229 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its position in Chevron by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Chevron by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 4,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Chevron by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 15,240 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Stock Down 0.4 %

CVX opened at $155.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $279.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $151.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.87. 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 12 month low of $135.37 and a 12 month high of $167.11.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.36). Chevron had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Chevron will post 10.84 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 67.08%.

About Chevron

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.