D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 151,570 Shares of Vale S.A. $VALE

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 81.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 34,347 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 151,570 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Vale were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Vale by 2,239.6% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 41,596,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $541,996,000 after buying an additional 39,818,066 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Vale by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 89,322,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,163,896,000 after purchasing an additional 32,864,929 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Vale by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 65,132,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $848,677,000 after purchasing an additional 19,397,396 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Vale by 15,202.2% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,663,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $249,209,000 after purchasing an additional 15,561,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Vale by 77.8% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 20,809,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $271,145,000 after purchasing an additional 9,103,727 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Vale in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Vale from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Vale from $12.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Vale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.31.

Vale Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Vale stock opened at $14.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.80. The stock has a market cap of $67.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08 and a beta of 0.46. Vale S.A. has a 12-month low of $9.36 and a 12-month high of $17.94.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $9.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.53 billion. Vale had a net margin of 7.21% and a return on equity of 21.10%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.