Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Chevron Corporation $CVX

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 799,534 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 38,419 shares during the quarter. Chevron comprises approximately 1.0% of Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Chevron were worth $124,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its holdings in Chevron by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 122,064,792 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,478,458,000 after acquiring an additional 3,454,258 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Chevron by 4.0% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,772,753 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,979,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342,723 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Chevron by 1.9% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,826,805 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,982,190,000 after purchasing an additional 378,936 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Chevron by 27.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,627,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,047,900,000 after purchasing an additional 4,279,918 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the second quarter worth about $2,721,477,000. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chevron news, Director John B. Hess sold 275,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.75, for a total transaction of $41,456,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,128,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,052,783.75. This represents a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Hewitt Pate sold 41,134 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.40, for a total transaction of $7,256,037.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $735,411.60. The trade was a 90.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 793,158 shares of company stock valued at $127,919,578 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Chevron Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVX opened at $182.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $159.90 and a 200 day moving average of $156.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $367.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.70. Chevron Corporation has a 52 week low of $132.04 and a 52 week high of $182.82.

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

Chevron Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $1.78 dividend. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Chevron’s payout ratio is presently 102.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Chevron from $183.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Chevron in a report on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Chevron from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $212.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.00.

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.