Focus Financial Network Inc. Cuts Stake in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)

Focus Financial Network Inc. lessened its holdings in Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,485 shares during the quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Vale were worth $144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VALE. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Vale by 3,092.0% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR purchased a new position in shares of Vale in the 4th quarter valued at about $188,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Vale by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 177,949 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after buying an additional 20,215 shares in the last quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vale by 76.2% during the fourth quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. now owns 74,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 32,000 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One North America Inc. raised its holdings in Vale by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 2,820,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,019,000 after acquiring an additional 20,692 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VALE. UBS Group downgraded shares of Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $11.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays cut their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research raised Vale from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of 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, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.26.

Vale Price Performance

Vale stock opened at $9.78 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.02. Vale S.A. has a 12 month low of $8.38 and a 12 month high of $13.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.37 billion, a PE ratio of 4.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.91.

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.