Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV) Insider Sells $224,460.00 in Stock

Valvoline Inc. (NYSE:VVV) insider Julie Marie O’daniel sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $572,560.05. This represents a 28.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Valvoline Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VVV opened at $36.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $37.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.37. Valvoline Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.90 and a 52-week high of $48.26. The company has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.39.

Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. Valvoline had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 143.64%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Valvoline Inc. will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Valvoline

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Valvoline by 83.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 199,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,335,000 after purchasing an additional 19,091 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of Valvoline by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 15,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Valvoline by 2.8% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 3,656,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $153,032,000 after buying an additional 100,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in Valvoline by 2.0% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 38,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,624,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VVV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Valvoline from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Valvoline from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Valvoline from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Valvoline from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Valvoline in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Valvoline has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.40.

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.