Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Down 0.9% - Should You Sell?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) traded down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $149.61 and last traded at $149.91. 1,187,698 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 7,686,938 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Chevron from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $183.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Chevron from $196.00 to $169.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Chevron from $205.00 to $189.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Chevron currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $173.07.

Chevron Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $145.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $277.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $51.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.68 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 9.31%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 11.06 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Chevron's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.98%.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Anfield Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Chevron by 118.0% during the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 218 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Chevron during the third quarter worth $47,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Chevron during the first quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Richardson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Chevron during the first quarter worth $58,000. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company's stock.

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.