The Shareholders Who Take the CashNarrow moat

Chevron (CVX) — moat facet

Chevron's most important customers are four institutional owners with nearly thirty percent of the shares, buying a rising dividend.

For a company without major customers, the most important counterparties are its owners. The Vanguard Group held 8.56 percent of Chevron in March 2026, State Street 7.50 percent, BlackRock 7.00 percent and Berkshire Hathaway 6.70 percent1, together about 29.8 percent2. John Hess, now a director, holds 8,797,298 shares3.

Largest holders, March 2026 (%)Vanguard8.56State Street7.50BlackRock7.00Berkshire Hathaway6.70Chevron 2026 proxy statement
Four holders own nearly thirty percent.

What they buy is cash. Chevron paid $12,751 million of dividends in 20254 and returned $27.1 billion in total including buybacks5. The payout ratio on trailing earnings was 68.38 percent6.

Berkshire's presence matters beyond its size. A holder that buys for decades values the dividend record and the balance sheet more than any one year's earnings, and Chevron's capital plan is written for that kind of owner: capex held at $18 billion to $19 billion7, buybacks flexing with the oil price8, the dividend protected first9.

The risk is the reverse of customer concentration. A company that sells cash yield to its owners must keep paying it, and that pushes it to borrow in bad years, as the balance sheet pages show.

John Hess joined Chevron's board after the Federal Trade Commission "lifted its earlier restriction"10; he is now one of Chevron's larger individual holders11.

Cash dividends paid are the figure these owners watch, $12,751 million in 202512. A year in which that line stops rising would be the first time in a generation Chevron's main counterparty was disappointed.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

Dividend raised again in 2026; Berkshire holds 6.7%.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Cash dividends paid
$12,751M (2025) from $11,801M in 2024

The payout the owners hold the shares for; a flat or falling year would break a 39-year record.

Source: Chevron XBRL company facts (SEC) ↗
References
  1. ReportedThe Vanguard Group held 8.56 percent of Chevron in March 2026, State Street 7.50 percent, BlackRock 7.00 percent and Berkshire Hathaway 6.70 percent, together about 29.8 percent.
    Chevron 2026 proxy statement (DEF 14A) - principal shareholders and director holdings. — March 2026 · publ. 7 April 2026 · source ↗
  2. Moat Explorer calcThe Vanguard Group held 8.56 percent of Chevron in March 2026, State Street 7.50 percent, BlackRock 7.00 percent and Berkshire Hathaway 6.70 percent, together about 29.8 percent.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Chevron's reported figures ($ millions unless stated). Segment mix 2025: external sales upstream US 19,608, upstream international 33,844, downstream US 65,331, downstream international 65,545, All Other 104, total 184,432; upstream 19,608 + 33,844 = 53,452, 53,452 / 184,432 = 29.0%; downstream 65,331 + 65,545 = 130,876, 130,876 / 184,432 = 71.0%; upstream US 19,608 / 184,432 = 10.6%; upstream international 33,844 / 184,432 = 18.4%; downstream US 65,331 / 184,432 = 35.4%; downstream international 65,545 / 184,432 = 35.5%. Upstream share of external sales 2015 (4,117 + 15,587) / 129,925 = 15.2%. Intersegment: upstream US 25,910 / 45,518 = 56.9%. Segment earnings 2025: upstream 12,822, downstream 3,022, sum 15,844; downstream 3,022 / 15,844 = 19.1%; upstream 12,822 / 15,844 = 80.9%. Downstream assets 55,243 / 324,012 = 17.0%. Change 2024 to 2025: upstream 12,822 - 18,602 = -5,780; downstream 3,022 - 1,727 = +1,295; 1,295 / 5,780 = 22.4%; Brent 81 - 69 = 12, 5,780 / 12 = about 480 per $1. 2022 upstream 12,621 + 17,663 = 30,284; downstream 5,394 + 2,761 = 8,155. Margins 2025 on sales before eliminations: upstream US 5,815 / 45,518 = 12.8%; upstream international 7,007 / 42,861 = 16.3%; downstream US 1,375 / 72,485 = 1.9%; downstream international 1,647 / 69,925 = 2.4%. Earnings over year-end segment assets: upstream 12,822 / 256,975 = 5.0%; upstream US 5,815 / 84,559 = 6.9%; upstream international 7,007 / 168,200 = 4.2%; downstream 3,022 / 55,243 = 5.5%; downstream US 1,375 / 33,745 = 4.1%; downstream international 1,647 / 21,146 = 7.8%. US downstream 531 / 3,904 - 1 = -86.4%. CPChem 352 / 8,985 = 3.9%; 352 / 903 - 1 = -61.0%. TCO revenue 21,986 / 18,872 - 1 = 16.5%; TCO net income 2,496 / 5,779 - 1 = -56.8%. Hess net income 193 / 48,000 = 0.4%. ROCE 2015-2025: 2.5, -0.1, 5.0, 8.2, 2.0, -2.8, 9.4, 20.3, 11.9, 10.1, 6.6; sum 73.1 / 11 = 6.6% average; years at or above 8%: 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 = 5 of 11. Production: Permian 1,000 / US 1,858 = 54%; 1,000 / 3,723 = 27%; Australia 472 / 3,723 = 12.7%; Q2 2026 4,070 / 3,396 - 1 = 19.8%; 4,070 / 3,120 - 1 = 30.4%. Guyana 30% x 1.7 million gross = 510 thousand. Gas: 0.91 x 6 = 5.46 per barrel of oil equivalent; 5.46 / 70.80 = 7.7%; 1.8 billion cubic feet / 6,000 = 300 thousand boe a day. Reserves: 3,723 x 365 = 1,359 million boe a year; 10,591 / 1,359 = 7.8 years. California refining 290 + 257 = 547 of 1,099 = 49.8%. Largest holders 8.56 + 7.50 + 7.00 + 6.70 = 29.76%. Balance sheet and returns: net debt 34,461 / 17,756 = 1.94, up 94%; dividends per share 6.84 / 4.28 - 1 = 59.8%; 6.84 / 6.63 = 1.03; returns 27.1 / 12.3 = 2.2 times; free cash flow 16.6 - 12.751 = 3.8 bn; buyback authorisation 75 - 44 = 31 bn; Q2 2026 buyback 3.0 bn / 16.2 million = $185 a share; shares 1,980 / 1,755 - 1 = 12.8%, 1,980 - 1,755 = 225 million; employees 43,039 / 45,600 - 1 = -5.6%; operating and SG&A 33,444 / 29,240 - 1 = 14.4%, 33,444 - 29,240 = 4,204; DD&A 20,132 / 17,282 - 1 = 16.5%, +2,850; income tax 7,258 / 12,299 = 59.0%. Valuation: trailing sales 184,432 - 90,476 + 114,755 = 208,711; trailing net income 12,299 - 5,990 + 14,282 = 20,591; 403.40 / 20.591 = 19.6 times; 403.40 / 12.299 = 32.8 times; implied forward earnings 403.40 / 12.77 = 31.6 bn, 31.6 / 12.3 = 2.6 times; trailing EPS approximately 20,591 / 1,970 = 10.45. Swings: timing 2.9 + 1.4 = 4.3 bn; international downstream 1,013 + 2,457 = 3,470. Further: California inputs 261 + 253 = 514, 514 / 1,038 = 49.5%; GS Caltex 58 / 4,403 = 1.3%, 437 / 4,403 = 9.9%; equity affiliate income 3,000 / 5,131 - 1 = -41.5%; affiliate production 538 / 3,723 = 14.5%; Hess share of 2025 production increase 261 / 385 = 67.8%; enterprise value less market value 431.95 - 403.40 = 28.55 bn; capital employed 232,934 / 177,698 - 1 = 31.1%; total assets 324,012 - 256,938 = 67,074; Hess issuance 15% / 6% = 2.5 years, 15% / 3% = 5 years; external sales 2015 downstream US 48,420 + 4,426 = 52,846, downstream international 54,296 + 2,933 = 57,229; 2020 downstream US 32,589 - 2,150 = 30,439 - sales mix, production and ownership. — 2015-2026 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
    Method: Arithmetic on figures reported in Chevron's Forms 10-K, 10-Q, earnings releases, proxy statement and market data; operands shown in the source line.
  3. ReportedJohn Hess, now a director, holds 8,797,298 shares.
    Chevron 2026 proxy statement (DEF 14A) - principal shareholders and director holdings. — March 2026 · publ. 7 April 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedChevron paid $12,751 million of dividends in 2025 and returned $27.1 billion in total including buybacks.
    SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts for Chevron (CIK 93410) - operating cash flow, share repurchases and dividends paid, 2015-2025. — 2015-2025 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedChevron paid $12,751 million of dividends in 2025 and returned $27.1 billion in total including buybacks.
    Chevron fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1. — FY2025 · publ. 30 January 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedThe payout ratio on trailing earnings was 68.38 percent.
    Chevron (CVX) statistics - $205.65 at the close on 24 September 2026, market cap $403.40 billion, trailing P/E 19.75, forward P/E 12.77, dividend yield 3.46%, 39 years of dividend growth. — September 2026 · publ. 24 September 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedA holder that buys for decades values the dividend record and the balance sheet more than any one year's earnings, and Chevron's capital plan is written for that kind of owner: capex held at $18 billion to $19 billion, buybacks flexing with the oil price, the dividend protected first.
    Chevron Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - liquidity and capital resources: debt, ratings, capital spending, dividends and share repurchases. — FY2025 · publ. 24 February 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedA holder that buys for decades values the dividend record and the balance sheet more than any one year's earnings, and Chevron's capital plan is written for that kind of owner: capex held at $18 billion to $19 billion, buybacks flexing with the oil price, the dividend protected first.
    Yahoo Finance (Investing.com), Chevron projects $10-20 billion of annual buybacks - the Investor Day plan to 2030. — November 2025 · publ. 12 November 2025 · source ↗
  9. ReportedA holder that buys for decades values the dividend record and the balance sheet more than any one year's earnings, and Chevron's capital plan is written for that kind of owner: capex held at $18 billion to $19 billion, buybacks flexing with the oil price, the dividend protected first.
    Chevron Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - liquidity and capital resources: debt, ratings, capital spending, dividends and share repurchases. — FY2025 · publ. 24 February 2026 · source ↗
  10. ReportedJohn Hess joined Chevron's board after the Federal Trade Commission "lifted its earlier restriction"; he is now one of Chevron's larger individual holders.
    Chevron Form 8-K exhibit 99.1, Chevron Completes Acquisition of Hess Corporation. — July 2025 · publ. 18 July 2025 · source ↗
  11. ReportedJohn Hess joined Chevron's board after the Federal Trade Commission "lifted its earlier restriction"; he is now one of Chevron's larger individual holders.
    Chevron 2026 proxy statement (DEF 14A) - principal shareholders and director holdings. — March 2026 · publ. 7 April 2026 · source ↗
  12. ReportedCash dividends paid are the figure these owners watch, $12,751 million in 2025.
    SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts for Chevron (CIK 93410) - operating cash flow, share repurchases and dividends paid, 2015-2025. — 2015-2025 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 25, 2026