Chevron Sees Institutional Portfolio Changes Following Strong Quarterly Results
Recent filings reveal multiple institutional investors trimmed their Chevron stakes following the oil giant's strong third-quarter earnings beat and quarterly dividend declaration.
Several institutional investment managers recently scaled back their holdings in Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX). Filings disclose that Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its position by 1.7% in the third quarter to 392,035 shares worth roughly $80.1 million. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. decreased its stake by 55.5% to 32,100 shares, while Vestor Capital LLC sold 79.3% of its position, leaving it with 5,194 shares. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC and Means Investment CO. Inc. also reduced their stakes by 10.3% and 12.9%, respectively. Institutional investors and hedge funds continue to hold 72.42% of the company's total shares.
The portfolio adjustments follow Chevron's earnings release on Friday, October 30th. The energy producer delivered earnings per share of $5.28, exceeding Wall Street projections of $4.87. Quarterly revenue expanded 36.3% year over year to $65.24 billion, surpassing anticipated revenue of $61.82 billion. Chevron generated a net margin of 11.56% and achieved third-quarter natural-gas output exceeding 9 billion cubic feet daily, bolstered by facilities in Australia and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Chevron also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.78 per share, representing an annualized distribution of $7.12 and a yield of 3.4%. The payout is scheduled for distribution on Thursday, December 10th to stockholders recorded as of Wednesday, November 18th.
Corporate insiders have also unloaded shares recently. Over the past quarter, company executives offloaded 379,470 shares valued at $77,216,415. Notably, Chief Executive Officer Michael K. Wirth sold 317,100 shares on Friday, August 14th at an average price of $200.46, generating $63,565,866.00 and retaining 26,308 shares. Additionally, insider Andrew Walz disposed of 16,800 shares on Monday, August 17th, while insider R. Pate shed 40,700 shares on Tuesday, October 20th under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
Brokerages maintain an overall Moderate Buy view on the equity, tracking toward a mean valuation objective of $221.88 according to MarketBeat. On Monday, November 2nd, UBS Group lifted its target on the stock from $235.00 to $265.00, and Wells Fargo raised its price objective from $230.00 to $268.00. Conversely, DZ Bank downgraded the shares from buy to hold on Tuesday, November 3rd with a $240.00 target.