Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Grows Holdings in Chevron Corporation $CVX

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. lifted its holdings in Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) by 12.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,073 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,066 shares during the quarter. Chevron makes up approximately 1.8% of Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Chevron were worth $3,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ignite Planners LLC boosted its stake in Chevron by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 12,316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares in the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Chevron by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 5,938 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Chevron by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 143,914 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $24,075,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its stake in shares of Chevron by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 569,258 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $95,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares during the period. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Chevron by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,260 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chevron Trading Down 0.6%

Chevron stock opened at $155.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Chevron Corporation has a 52 week low of $132.04 and a 52 week high of $168.96. The company has a market capitalization of $268.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $156.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.38.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.19. Chevron had a return on equity of 9.90% and a net margin of 7.02%.The firm had revenue of $44.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Chevron Corporation will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CVX. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Chevron from $192.00 to $191.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Chevron in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Chevron in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Chevron in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Chevron from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.25.

Insider Activity at Chevron

In other news, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 3,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $636,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $188,960. This represents a 77.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John B. Hess sold 375,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.30, for a total value of $59,362,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,403,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,102,023.50. The trade was a 21.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.