American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 769,520 Shares of Vale S.A. $VALE

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 17.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,183,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 769,520 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Vale worth $56,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Vale by 1,534.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,810,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $240,908,000 after buying an additional 23,292,629 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vale by 31.8% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,705,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $210,758,000 after acquiring an additional 5,234,201 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 20,080,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $194,978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,588 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Vale by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,296,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $158,237,000 after acquiring an additional 363,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new position in Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $123,532,000. Institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of VALE opened at $15.43 on Friday. Vale S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.06 and a 52-week high of $17.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported ($0.90) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($1.42). Vale had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 20.16%. Research analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VALE. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “cautious” rating and set a $15.50 price objective on shares of Vale in a report on Monday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Vale from $13.80 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Vale from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $14.20 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.46.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.