D.A. Davidson & CO. Lowers Holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

D.A. Davidson & CO. trimmed its holdings in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE - Free Report) by 79.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,165 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 117,577 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Vale were worth $268,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Vale by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 75,491 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $882,000 after acquiring an additional 6,481 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Vale by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 31,802 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 10,730 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vale by 1,680.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 242,514 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,833,000 after acquiring an additional 228,890 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in Vale by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,627 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 28,754 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded Vale from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Vale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $13.26.

Vale Price Performance

Shares of VALE traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.43. 33,530,660 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,843,434. The stock has a market cap of $42.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.55, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.19 and a 200-day moving average of $9.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.91. Vale S.A. has a 52 week low of $8.38 and a 52 week high of $13.68.

Vale (NYSE:VALE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.03 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 17.38% and a net margin of 16.15%. On average, analysts forecast that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

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

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.