Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 219,799 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,185,143 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 219,799 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.38% of Vale worth $152,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Vale by 215.9% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Vale by 206.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Vale during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Vale by 3,092.0% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Vale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on VALE. Wolfe Research upgraded Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lowered Vale from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Vale from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $13.26.

Vale Trading Up 3.8 %

VALE stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.72. The stock had a trading volume of 30,973,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,203,289. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $44.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.75, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.91. Vale S.A. has a twelve month low of $8.38 and a twelve month high of $13.68.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.03 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. As a group, research analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3758 per share. This is a positive change from Vale's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Vale's payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pellets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Iron Solutions and Energy Transition Materials segments. The Iron Solutions segment produces and extracts iron ore and pellets, manganese, and other ferrous products; and provides related logistic services.