Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lowered its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 14.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 239,656 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 39,605 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $59,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $705,502,000 after purchasing an additional 209,597 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 42,376 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,898,000 after buying an additional 10,634 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $954,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy by 359.0% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 14,243 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,319,000 after buying an additional 11,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,249,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valero Energy Stock Up 2.7%

VLO opened at $266.26 on Tuesday. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $130.78 and a one year high of $272.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $246.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $218.31.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. The firm had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 27.45 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VLO. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research lowered Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total value of $1,776,750.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,453,629.80. The trade was a 21.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Company Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company’s operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.