Aprio Wealth Management LLC Sells 4,620 Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,620 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Vale were worth $290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VALE. Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. bought a new position in Vale in the third quarter worth $6,432,000. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc lifted its position in Vale by 60.3% in the third quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 277,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 104,554 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Vale by 15.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 250,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,931,000 after purchasing an additional 32,734 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Vale in the second quarter worth $5,360,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vale in the second quarter worth $429,000. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VALE has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Vale from $16.00 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Vale from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Wolfe Research cut Vale from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BNP Paribas raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.17.

Vale Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $11.06 on Wednesday. Vale S.A. has a twelve month low of $9.66 and a twelve month high of $16.08. The firm has a market cap of $49.56 billion, a PE ratio of 6.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.61 and a 200-day moving average of $11.41.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Vale had a return on equity of 22.23% and a net margin of 23.07%. The company had revenue of $9.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.97 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.3698 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This is a positive change from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.32. This represents a dividend yield of 12.1%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.09%.

Vale 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.