Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by GF Fund Management CO. LTD.

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. decreased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,567 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 7,149 shares during the quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $8,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 1,277.8% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 248 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 145.3% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 211 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down previously from $198.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $192.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $169.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total value of $1,728,540.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 134,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,352,787.92. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $200.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $206.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $179.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.38. The firm has a market cap of $61.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.77.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 1.91%.The firm had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.83%.

About Valero Energy

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.