Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Raised to “Hold” at Freedom Broker

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Freedom Broker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $218.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock. Freedom Broker‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 2.51% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CVX. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Chevron in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $241.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. DZ Bank cut Chevron from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $240.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho set a $234.00 price objective on Chevron in a report on Monday, October 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.88.

Chevron Price Performance

Chevron stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $212.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,080,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,613,494. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $420.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.47. Chevron has a 52 week low of $146.49 and a 52 week high of $236.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $214.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.40.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The oil and gas company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.87 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $65.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.82 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 14.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Chevron will post 18.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew Walz sold 16,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.06, for a total value of $3,377,808.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 14 shares in the company, valued at $2,814.84. This represents a 99.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Pate sold 40,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.65, for a total value of $9,224,655.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,992,480.15. This represents a 82.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 379,470 shares of company stock valued at $77,216,415 over the last 90 days. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in shares of Chevron in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in Chevron during the second quarter worth $28,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in Chevron by 49.6% during the second quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 181 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Chevron during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Burk Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Chevron in the second quarter valued at $42,000. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Chevron News

Here are the key news stories impacting Chevron this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Chevron was upgraded by Freedom Broker from “sell” to “hold,” with a $218 price target. The change signals less bearishness, though the target implies only modest upside from the cited share price. Freedom Broker rating
• Positive Sentiment: Natural-gas production topped 9 billion cubic feet per day in the third quarter, supported by operations in Australia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Record output could strengthen Chevron’s position in the liquefied natural gas market, despite operational disruptions. Zacks article on gas production
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage points to record cash flow and a run of earnings beats as reasons to consider CVX for the long term. Chevron’s latest reported quarter also exceeded analyst expectations for earnings and revenue, supporting the fundamental case. 247WallSt analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: An executive reported selling 24,439 shares in an option exercise-and-sale transaction. The report alone does not establish a change in the company’s outlook. Insider transaction report
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage says a post-election political shift sent oil prices lower, dragging energy stocks, including Chevron. A separate analyst downgrade also contributed to reported share-price pressure, highlighting sensitivity to oil-market expectations and cautious ratings. Report on analyst downgrade

Chevron Company Profile

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is an integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production, transportation and sale of crude oil and natural gas. Its upstream operations include oil and gas exploration and production, while its downstream business includes refining crude oil, marketing fuels and manufacturing and distributing lubricants, petrochemicals and fuel additives.

The company also invests in lower-carbon businesses and technologies, including renewable fuels, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and other opportunities intended to reduce emissions from its operations and energy products.