First National Trust Co Lowers Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

First National Trust Co trimmed its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,538 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,304 shares during the quarter. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $10,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Valero Energy by 12,883.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,047,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $136,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,293 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 94.4% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,429,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $202,585,000 after purchasing an additional 694,224 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,961,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,269,949,000 after buying an additional 517,068 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after purchasing an additional 342,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 938,771 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $122,040,000 after purchasing an additional 250,326 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $179.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.40.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of VLO stock traded down $0.50 on Friday, reaching $156.84. 2,356,803 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,689,989. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $52.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $163.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.69. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $104.18 and a 1-year high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.02 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm’s revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.27 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.02 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Profile

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.