Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Sold by Prosperitas Financial LLC

Prosperitas Financial LLC reduced its stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 92.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,430 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 187,950 shares during the period. Prosperitas Financial LLC's holdings in Vale were worth $137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning raised its position in Vale by 9.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 75,491 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 6,481 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 31,802 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 10,730 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 1,680.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 242,514 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,833,000 after acquiring an additional 228,890 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in Vale by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 28,754 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Finally, Vinland Capital Management Gestora de Recursos LTDA. purchased a new position in Vale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $707,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company's stock.

Vale Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of VALE stock traded down $0.03 on Monday, reaching $9.40. 25,096,730 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,549,938. Vale S.A. has a twelve month low of $8.38 and a twelve month high of $13.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $42.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.53, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.91. The business's 50 day moving average price is $9.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.97.

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

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3758 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a yield of 7.5%. This is a boost from Vale's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. Vale's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on VALE shares. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Vale from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group lowered Vale from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.26.

About Vale

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.