Cerity Partners LLC Sells 1,481 Shares of Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,481 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Valvoline were worth $1,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Valvoline by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,893,648 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $466,492,000 after buying an additional 101,834 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Valvoline by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,226,769 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $93,215,000 after acquiring an additional 54,545 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Valvoline by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,642,754 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,435,000 after purchasing an additional 16,912 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in Valvoline by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,577,313 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $57,067,000 after purchasing an additional 349,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Valvoline during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,114,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VVV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Valvoline from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Valvoline in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Valvoline from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Valvoline from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Securities assumed coverage on Valvoline in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valvoline

In other news, insider Julie Marie O’daniel sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.41, for a total value of $224,460.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $572,560.05. This represents a 28.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Valvoline Price Performance

VVV opened at $33.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.39. The company has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.73. Valvoline Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.02 and a 12-month high of $48.27.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. Valvoline had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 143.64%. Research analysts predict that Valvoline Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Valvoline

Valvoline Inc engages in the operation and franchising of vehicle service centers and retail stores in the United States and Canada. The company, through its service centers, provides fluid exchange for motor oil, transmission and differential fluid, and coolant; parts replacement for batteries, filters, wiper blades, and belts; and safety services, such as tire inflation and rotation, bulbs, and safety checks.