Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,542,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 364,529 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.25% of Vale worth $102,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VALE. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Vale by 215.9% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Vale by 206.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Vale by 3,092.0% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Vale during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 21.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Vale from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.86.

Vale Trading Down 6.5 %

NYSE VALE opened at $9.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.32, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.72. 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 one year low of $8.38 and a one year high of $13.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.88.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last issued 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). Vale had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 17.38%. The business had revenue of $10.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.03 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.3758 dividend. This is an increase from Vale’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 7.5%. Vale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

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.