Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,289 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,375 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VLO. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 53.4% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,471,401 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,644,300,000 after buying an additional 5,384,997 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 10,294.8% during the 3rd 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. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,341,245 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,118,388,000 after purchasing an additional 700,532 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,571,478 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $167,017,000 after purchasing an additional 592,695 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,635,050 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $775,264,000 after purchasing an additional 587,056 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.28% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO opened at $131.62 on Wednesday. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.13 and a twelve month high of $150.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.52, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The oil and gas company reported $8.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.45 by $1.00. Valero Energy had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The firm had revenue of $41.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 24.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 13th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VLO. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 20th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $157.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $177.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 19th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $169.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.38.

Valero Energy Profile

(Get Rating)

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.