Chevron Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CVX)

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 102,363 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 174% compared to the typical daily volume of 37,331 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CVX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup raised Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. DZ Bank raised shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.13.

Chevron Stock Performance

Shares of CVX opened at $156.00 on Friday. Chevron has a one year low of $135.37 and a one year high of $167.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $280.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $151.92 and a 200 day moving average of $150.84.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.36). Chevron had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Chevron will post 10.84 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total transaction of $1,422,062.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,192.50. This trade represents a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chevron in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Chevron during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Chevron during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in Chevron by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 204 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.