Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Position in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 33.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,773,842 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,330,219 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Chevron were worth $1,270,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Chevron during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chevron during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chevron by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 204 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chevron Price Performance

CVX stock opened at $143.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $157.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.25. Chevron Co. has a 52-week low of $135.37 and a 52-week high of $168.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.37%.

Insider Activity

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 value of $1,422,062.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,192.50. This trade represents a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on CVX. UBS Group cut their price objective on Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Chevron from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.13.

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.