Jennison Associates LLC Raises Stock Position in Vale S.A. $VALE

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 55.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,603,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 568,637 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $20,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VALE. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Vale in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Vale by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Vale in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Vale by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,713 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Vale by 171.6% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 3,128 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Vale Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE VALE opened at $16.16 on Friday. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $8.97 and a 12-month high of $17.94. The company has a market capitalization of $73.35 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.50.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.08). Vale had a net margin of 7.21% and a return on equity of 20.90%. The business had revenue of $9.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.53 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Vale S.A. will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VALE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Vale from $13.80 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Vale from $18.00 to $18.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $15.50 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Vale from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.95.

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.