Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Stock Price

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $180.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

CVX has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on Chevron from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Chevron from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Chevron from $186.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Chevron in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.25.

Chevron Stock Performance

Shares of Chevron stock opened at $155.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.10. Chevron has a fifty-two week low of $132.04 and a fifty-two week high of $168.96. The firm has a market cap of $312.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.83.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $48.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.99 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 9.90% and a net margin of 7.02%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Chevron will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be given a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

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

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Chevron by 420.7% in the 1st quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 151 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Chevron by 197.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Chevron in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 86.1% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 255 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.