Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Trims Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 169,713 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,931 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $18,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 53.4% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,471,401 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,644,300,000 after purchasing an additional 5,384,997 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 10,294.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,321,288 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $141,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308,577 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1,686.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,166,770 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $124,004,000 after buying an additional 1,101,451 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 79.1% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,038,311 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $216,632,000 after buying an additional 900,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,341,245 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,118,388,000 after buying an additional 700,532 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.28% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Up 1.4 %

VLO opened at $145.03 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $76.60 and a 1-year high of $160.16. The company has a market capitalization of $55.91 billion, a PE ratio of 6.19, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.18.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 25th. The oil and gas company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $44.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.16 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.53% and a return on equity of 43.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 28.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, EVP Gary K. Simmons sold 1,750 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.16, for a total value of $236,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 165,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,341,812.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Gary K. Simmons sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.16, for a total value of $236,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 165,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,341,812.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Joseph W. Gorder sold 37,567 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.00, for a total transaction of $4,771,009.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 569,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,362,822. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VLO. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 26th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $157.00 price target (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $147.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.80.

About Valero Energy

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Valero Energy Corp. engages in the manufacture and marketing of transportation fuels and other petrochemical products. It operates through the following business segments: Refining, Ethanol and Renewable Diesel. The Refining segment consists of refining operations, associated marketing activities, and logistics assets that support its refining operations.