Sigma Planning Corp Has $519,000 Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Sigma Planning Corp cut its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 62.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,992 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 6,632 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 8,384 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Valero Energy by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 10,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,690 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 8,806 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 40.3% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 303 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VLO shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $173.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.63.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO opened at $167.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.34. The firm has a market cap of $55.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.76, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.54. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $104.18 and a 1 year high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.95 by $0.60. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 31.62% and a net margin of 6.10%. The firm had revenue of $35.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.31 earnings per share for the current year.

About Valero Energy

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.