Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Upgraded to Buy at Melius Research

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) was upgraded by Melius Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $205.00 target price on the oil and gas company’s stock. Melius Research’s target price indicates a potential upside of 11.62% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Chevron from $180.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Chevron from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Chevron from $174.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Chevron from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.36.

Chevron Stock Performance

Shares of Chevron stock opened at $183.65 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Chevron has a 52 week low of $132.04 and a 52 week high of $186.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $163.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.68.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. Chevron had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 8.23%. The business had revenue of $45.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Chevron will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In other news, insider Andrew Benjamin Walz sold 22,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.53, for a total value of $3,918,966.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,568.98. This represents a 97.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Thomas Ryder Booth sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.43, for a total transaction of $1,070,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,932.68. This trade represents a 92.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 793,163 shares of company stock valued at $127,920,502 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chevron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CVX. Castellan Group lifted its position in shares of Chevron by 10.7% during the second quarter. Castellan Group now owns 20,405 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its position in shares of Chevron by 7.7% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 11,079 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,586,000 after buying an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its holdings in Chevron by 25.8% in the second quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 4,471 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Chevron by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 50,839 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,280,000 after purchasing an additional 4,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Chevron by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,793 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Chevron

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is an American multinational energy company engaged in virtually all aspects of the oil and gas industry. As an integrated energy firm, Chevron’s core activities include upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production, midstream transportation and storage, downstream refining and marketing of fuels and lubricants, and petrochemical manufacturing through joint ventures and subsidiaries. The company markets fuels under brands such as Chevron, Texaco and Caltex and supplies a range of products and services to retail customers, industrial users and commercial fleets worldwide.

Chevron traces its corporate lineage to the early petroleum companies that eventually became Standard Oil of California and has evolved through significant mergers and restructurings, including the acquisitions of Gulf Oil and Texaco.