HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 202.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,490 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,024 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valaris were worth $591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Valaris during the second quarter worth approximately $204,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valaris during the 2nd quarter worth $204,000. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valaris during the 2nd quarter worth $211,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valaris during the 2nd quarter valued at about $224,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Valaris in the third quarter valued at about $244,000. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew Lyne sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.77, for a total transaction of $1,450,020.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 24,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,360,118.76. This represents a 51.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Valaris from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 price target (down previously from $59.00) on shares of Valaris in a research report on Wednesday. Benchmark lowered Valaris from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Valaris in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on Valaris from $61.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Valaris has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.33.

Valaris Stock Down 0.7 %

Valaris stock opened at $40.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.89. Valaris Limited has a fifty-two week low of $40.73 and a fifty-two week high of $84.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.09.

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.