State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. Sells 14,734 Shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. lowered its position in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,965 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,734 shares during the quarter. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. owned 0.08% of Valaris worth $2,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Valaris by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Valaris in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Valaris by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 9,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in Valaris by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Valaris by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VAL has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI downgraded Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Valaris from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Valaris from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.33.

Valaris Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:VAL opened at $39.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.67 and a beta of 1.16. Valaris Limited has a one year low of $31.15 and a one year high of $84.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last posted 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%. Analysts anticipate that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Valaris

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.