ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 204,045 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 12,371 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Chevron were worth $30,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P boosted its holdings in Chevron by 85.1% in the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 159,115 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,908,000 after purchasing an additional 73,141 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in Chevron by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 7,335 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,476 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Chevron by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 40,538 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,598,000 after acquiring an additional 1,813 shares in the last quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Chevron by 43.5% in the first quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,837 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Chevron by 13.8% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,068,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $336,830,000 after acquiring an additional 250,840 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Price Performance

Shares of CVX traded up $2.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $160.00. The company had a trading volume of 7,592,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,519,150. The company has a market capitalization of $297.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.12. Chevron Co. has a 12-month low of $139.62 and a 12-month high of $172.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.19 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $47.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.93 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.09 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is a boost from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 57.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Chevron from $180.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen cut Chevron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Raymond James increased their price objective on Chevron from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank raised shares of Chevron from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.09, for a total value of $448,252.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,184.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Chevron 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.