Avalon Capital Management Increases Stock Holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Avalon Capital Management raised its stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 28.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,170 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Avalon Capital Management’s holdings in Chevron were worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Chevron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chevron during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chevron during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chevron during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chevron during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a report on Monday, February 3rd. DZ Bank raised Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James decreased their price target on Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total value of $1,422,062.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,192.50. The trade was a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Chevron Stock Up 0.6 %

CVX opened at $157.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $283.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $152.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.20. Chevron Co. has a 12 month low of $135.37 and a 12 month high of $167.11.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 11.44%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This is a boost from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. Chevron’s payout ratio is 70.37%.

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.