Raymond James & Associates Purchases 70,226 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) by 11.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 708,371 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 70,226 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.21% of Valero Energy worth $120,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of VLO traded down $4.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $155.66. 3,954,874 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,296,051. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.18 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $162.49 and a 200-day moving average of $141.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.54.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 24.82%. The company had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $32.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.27 earnings per share. Valero Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.37 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on VLO shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $150.00 to $173.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.40.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VLO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.