LPL Financial LLC Acquires 10,737 Shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) by 101.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,322 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,737 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Valaris were worth $943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Valaris by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,002 shares of the company's stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Valaris by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 9,273 shares of the company's stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in Valaris by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Valaris by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Valaris by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,206 shares of the company's stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the period. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VAL shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Valaris from $46.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valaris to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Valaris from $47.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded Valaris from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.33.

Valaris Trading Down 1.4 %

Valaris stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $30.90. The stock had a trading volume of 1,519,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,470,500. Valaris Limited has a twelve month low of $27.15 and a twelve month high of $84.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $36.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.60.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $584.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $578.01 million. Valaris had a return on equity of 17.40% and a net margin of 15.81%. Equities analysts anticipate that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.