West Branch Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,689 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Chevron were worth $1,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CVX. Tacita Capital Inc lifted its stake in Chevron by 16.7% during the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 454 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chevron by 0.8% in the third 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. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Chevron by 0.3% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,769 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,911,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC raised its stake in shares of Chevron by 0.7% in the third quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 9,033 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jag Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Chevron by 5.2% in the third quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 1,366 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Stock Performance

Shares of CVX stock opened at $155.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $154.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.11. The firm has a market cap of $280.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.12. Chevron Co. has a 1 year low of $135.37 and a 1 year high of $167.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.04. Chevron had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The business had revenue of $50.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.05 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Chevron Co. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Chevron’s payout ratio is 71.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.13, for a total transaction of $26,357,398.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $685,356.40. This trade represents a 97.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Chevron from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upgraded Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Chevron from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Chevron in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.27.

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.