Donaldson Capital Management LLC Sells 1,645 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,262 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,645 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $4,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 3,400.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 134.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on VLO. UBS Group raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $280.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $350.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $259.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $286.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,294,212.14. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $341.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $283.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $247.97. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $135.01 and a 52 week high of $346.09. The company has a market capitalization of $98.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.11 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $44.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.47 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 26.74% and a net margin of 5.17%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 40.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.92%.

Valero Energy Company Profile

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.