Empirical Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

Empirical Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX - Free Report) by 374.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 126,940 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 100,164 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC's holdings in Chevron were worth $18,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Chevron during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chevron in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its position in Chevron by 66.7% during the second quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 250 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CVX. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Chevron from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Chevron from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Chevron from $194.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Raymond James upped their price target on Chevron from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Chevron from $168.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $175.27.

Insider Activity at Chevron

In related news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $685,356.40. This trade represents a 97.47 % 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 this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Chevron Stock Performance

Shares of CVX stock traded up $2.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $161.54. The stock had a trading volume of 9,233,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,835,055. Chevron Co. has a 1-year low of $135.37 and a 1-year high of $167.11. The firm has a market cap of $290.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business's fifty day moving average is $153.84 and its 200-day moving average is $151.06.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $50.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.05 EPS. Chevron's quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Chevron's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.65%.

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.