Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) Shares Purchased by Lingotto Investment Management LLP

Lingotto Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 1.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,040,610 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,870 shares during the period. Valaris makes up 7.6% of Lingotto Investment Management LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Lingotto Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Valaris were worth $226,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Valaris by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,893,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,849,000 after acquiring an additional 77,490 shares during the last quarter. Condire Management LP raised its position in shares of Valaris by 14.7% during the first quarter. Condire Management LP now owns 1,452,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,285,000 after acquiring an additional 186,076 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Valaris by 23.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,188,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,573,000 after acquiring an additional 225,283 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Valaris by 4.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 828,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,344,000 after acquiring an additional 38,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Valaris during the fourth quarter worth $43,282,000. 96.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valaris

In other news, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total transaction of $1,705,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 108,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,160,326.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Davor Vukadin sold 15,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.64, for a total transaction of $872,425.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $755,237.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.86, for a total value of $1,705,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 108,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,160,326.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Valaris Stock Up 2.9 %

NYSE:VAL opened at $56.85 on Wednesday. Valaris Limited has a 1 year low of $53.06 and a 1 year high of $84.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.07.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $1.07. Valaris had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 49.33%. The firm had revenue of $610.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $545.00 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Valaris Limited will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VAL. Pickering Energy Partners downgraded Valaris from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Valaris from $95.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Valaris in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Valaris from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.40.

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.