Sterling Capital Management LLC Purchases 364,988 Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 3,711.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 374,821 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 364,988 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Chevron were worth $54,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CVX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at $3,017,750,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Chevron in the fourth quarter worth $1,036,302,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Chevron by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,496,687 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,389,380,000 after buying an additional 2,432,756 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Chevron by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,806,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,323,549,000 after buying an additional 1,910,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Chevron by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,027,474 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,176,579,000 after buying an additional 964,426 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Price Performance

Shares of CVX stock opened at $134.88 on Friday. Chevron Co. has a twelve month low of $133.45 and a twelve month high of $168.96. The stock has a market cap of $237.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s fifty day moving average is $155.70 and its 200 day moving average is $153.87.

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 net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 11.44%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. Research analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.07%. This is an increase from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Chevron from $194.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial cut their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Chevron has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.53.

Insider Activity at Chevron

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,192.50. This represents a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Chevron 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.