Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 16,800 Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its position in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 28.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 42,300 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 16,800 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Chevron were worth $6,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CVX. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Chevron by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Chevron during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Coulter & Justus Financial Services LLC increased its position in Chevron by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Coulter & Justus Financial Services LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chevron by 70.5% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 115,887 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,286,000 after acquiring an additional 47,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 83,678 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,481,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In related news, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 2,800 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $462,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,540. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CVX traded down $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $160.25. 11,493,744 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,484,686. Chevron Co. has a 1-year low of $139.62 and a 1-year high of $171.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $157.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $297.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.11.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The oil and gas company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $48.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.42 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 14.38%. The business’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 13.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $184.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on Chevron from $185.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Chevron from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Chevron currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.35.

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.