Capital Research Global Investors Sells 692,978 Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Capital Research Global Investors cut its holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX - Free Report) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,075,885 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 692,978 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned about 0.23% of Chevron worth $590,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Chevron during the 4th quarter worth $9,369,000. Nicholas Company Inc. lifted its position in Chevron by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 80,025 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $11,591,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Chevron by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 179,815 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $26,044,000 after acquiring an additional 2,755 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Chevron by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,205,747 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $174,817,000 after purchasing an additional 52,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the fourth quarter worth about $594,000. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Chevron Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE CVX traded up $2.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $138.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,317,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,916,725. Chevron Co. has a one year low of $132.04 and a one year high of $168.96. The stock has a market cap of $244.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $152.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.10.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.71 dividend. This is a boost from Chevron's previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. Chevron's payout ratio is 70.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Chevron news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total value of $1,422,062.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,192.50. This represents a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CVX. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $124.00 target price (down previously from $156.00) on shares of Chevron in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Chevron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Chevron from $194.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $165.71.

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.