34,258 Shares in Vale S.A. $VALE Purchased by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 34,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Vale in the third quarter valued at approximately $20,754,000. Advisory Resource Group acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,434,000. Ninety One North America Inc. raised its position in shares of Vale by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 3,377,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,681,000 after purchasing an additional 886,214 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 valued at $194,978,000 after buying an additional 1,002,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 493.9% during the 3rd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 308,126 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,346,000 after buying an additional 256,244 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Vale news, VP Sobrinho Sami Arap purchased 12,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.11 per share, with a total value of $209,268.90. Following the purchase, the vice president owned 12,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,268.90. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parenti Grazielle Tallia purchased 10,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.11 per share, with a total value of $168,575.04. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 10,464 shares in the company, valued at $168,575.04. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VALE shares. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $14.50 to $15.50 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Vale from $12.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $16.50 target price on shares of Vale in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $18.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.25.

Vale Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of VALE opened at $16.18 on Monday. Vale S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $8.06 and a fifty-two week high of $17.72. The company has a market capitalization of $73.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $16.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported ($0.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($1.42). The business had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.86 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 20.16% and a net margin of 6.12%. As a group, analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

About Vale

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.