Meritage Portfolio Management Increases Holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Meritage Portfolio Management raised its stake in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,838 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 2,003 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Chevron were worth $4,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Chevron by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 161,924,375 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,303,688,000 after acquiring an additional 458,080 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Chevron by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 34,166,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,761,223,000 after acquiring an additional 2,244,995 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Chevron by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,236,141 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,059,834,000 after acquiring an additional 368,898 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Chevron by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,705,118 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,828,537,000 after acquiring an additional 569,850 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Chevron by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,814,522 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,499,684,000 after buying an additional 62,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.09, for a total transaction of $448,252.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,184.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Chevron Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CVX traded up $1.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $165.28. 9,680,436 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,464,074. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.75. Chevron Co. has a 12-month low of $139.62 and a 12-month high of $171.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.19 by $0.26. Chevron had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The firm had revenue of $47.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 13.58 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. This is a boost from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CVX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chevron in a report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Chevron in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chevron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.75.

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.