Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Up 1.8% After Analyst Upgrade

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) shares rose 1.8% during trading on Wednesday after Melius Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Melius Research now has a $205.00 price target on the stock. Chevron traded as high as $183.92 and last traded at $183.7490. Approximately 10,303,592 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average daily volume of 12,584,943 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.55.

CVX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Chevron from $180.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Chevron from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Chevron from $204.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $179.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Thomas Ryder Booth sold 1,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.37, for a total transaction of $204,619.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Eimear P. Bonner sold 32,100 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.01, for a total transaction of $5,617,821.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $764,093.66. This represents a 88.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 531,027 shares of company stock worth $88,833,430 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Chevron

Here are the key news stories impacting Chevron this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Chevron-led consortium won multiple offshore exploration blocks in Greece (Chevron is operator with ~70% interest), expanding long‑term upstream optionality and reserve exposure — a clear growth catalyst for the stock. Chevron-led consortium signs gas exploration deal in Greece
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron boosted its quarterly dividend (annualized ~$7.12; yield ~3.9%), reinforcing income appeal and supporting demand from yield‑focused investors. Dividend announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Independent coverage is bullish: several outlets highlight CVX as a defensive, dividend‑paying leader in a strong energy sector and some analysts (including a recent upgrade) have raised targets, which can attract long‑only flows. Chevron: Buy And Hold Like Berkshire Hathaway
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly results mixed: EPS beat estimates but revenue was below consensus and year‑over‑year revenue declined — this supports earnings quality but leaves questions on near‑term volume/price headwinds. Earnings recap
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader sector momentum and analyst write‑ups (valuation debates, dividend comparisons vs. Exxon) are increasing attention on CVX; that can boost volume and volatility without changing fundamentals. Chevron vs Exxon article
• Negative Sentiment: Turkey publicly opposed Greece‑Chevron activity off Crete, calling it unlawful — this creates a geopolitical/regulatory overhang on Mediterranean projects and could delay execution. Turkey says Greece-Chevron activity unlawful
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling disclosures (company officers selling stock in recent filings) add a near‑term negative signal and may amplify selling pressure for short windows. Insider selling

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Chevron by 17.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,790,028 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,540,753,000 after acquiring an additional 27,961,463 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Chevron in the 4th quarter worth $3,727,586,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Chevron by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 152,605,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $23,698,184,000 after purchasing an additional 12,789,399 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its position in Chevron by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 130,156,362 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,837,131,000 after purchasing an additional 8,091,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in Chevron during the third quarter valued at about $988,083,000. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $372.27 billion, a PE ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 0.70.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Chevron had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 6.51%.The company had revenue of $45.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Chevron Corporation will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $1.78 per share. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. Chevron’s payout ratio is 106.91%.

Chevron Company Profile

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.