D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 16,553 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

D.A. Davidson & CO. trimmed its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,519 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 16,553 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $18,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 194.4% during the fourth quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 212 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 145.3% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 211 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.69, for a total transaction of $1,892,331.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,242 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,618,080.98. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO opened at $238.12 on Tuesday. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $112.23 and a fifty-two week high of $258.43. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $229.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.91. The stock has a market cap of $71.20 billion, a PE ratio of 31.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The firm had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 19.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VLO. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Argus raised shares of Valero Energy to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Valero Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $247.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $212.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.94.

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company's operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.

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