Swiss National Bank Sells 58,700 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,104,200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 58,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.32% of Valero Energy worth $143,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 4,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Valero Energy by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,005,346 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $142,468,000 after buying an additional 55,351 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 7,615 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $362,569,000 after acquiring an additional 342,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 645,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $83,867,000 after acquiring an additional 18,575 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $156.84 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $162.85 and a 200-day moving average of $141.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $104.18 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The company has a market capitalization of $52.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The company had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VLO shares. Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $161.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.40.

Valero Energy Company Profile

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.