State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Raises Holdings in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) by 44.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,231 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,840 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.06% of Valaris worth $2,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VAL. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 1,751 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Valaris by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,524 shares of the company's stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Valaris by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Valaris by 14.3% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,735 shares of the company's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Valaris by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 137,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,670,000 after acquiring an additional 17,690 shares in the last quarter. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valaris Stock Performance

VAL stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $36.59. 2,168,715 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,748,917. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.08. Valaris Limited has a twelve month low of $36.55 and a twelve month high of $84.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.12 and a beta of 1.10.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.68. Valaris had a return on equity of 17.40% and a net margin of 15.81%. The firm had revenue of $584.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.01 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VAL shares. StockNews.com raised Valaris to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Valaris from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Valaris in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Valaris from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded Valaris from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Valaris has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.00.

Valaris Profile

Valaris Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services Gulf of Mexico, South America, North Sea, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through four segments: Floaters, Jackups, ARO, and Other. It owns an offshore drilling rig fleet, which include drillships, dynamically positioned semisubmersible rigs, moored semisubmersible rig, and jackup rigs.