Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Sells 6,862 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 159,358 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 6,862 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.05% of Valero Energy worth $27,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 23.4% in the third quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 5,256 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $895,000 after buying an additional 998 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $456,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.5% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 575,237 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $97,940,000 after acquiring an additional 8,289 shares in the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 41.9% during the third quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 2,751 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 107,547 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $18,311,000 after acquiring an additional 3,816 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $169.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $198.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.20.

Valero Energy Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of VLO stock opened at $232.73 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $198.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $240.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.70.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.20 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy 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 value of $1,892,331.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,242 shares in the company, valued at $9,618,080.98. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.