California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 41,456 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 657,364 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 41,456 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $85,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VLO. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter worth $28,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter worth $42,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VLO shares. Bank of America raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $161.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $130.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.63.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.3 %

VLO opened at $167.00 on Thursday. 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 quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $160.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.75, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.54.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.95 by $0.60. Valero Energy had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 31.62%. The company had revenue of $35.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 18.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Profile

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.