Anthracite Investment Company Inc. Cuts Holdings in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Anthracite Investment Company Inc. lowered its stake in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 41.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,381 shares during the quarter. Anthracite Investment Company Inc.’s holdings in Valaris were worth $1,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Valaris during the 1st quarter worth $582,000. Natixis acquired a new position in shares of Valaris in the 1st quarter valued at about $730,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Valaris by 14.8% in the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 137,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,670,000 after purchasing an additional 17,690 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Valaris during the second quarter valued at about $3,652,000. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Valaris by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 670,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,412,000 after purchasing an additional 113,509 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.74% of the company’s stock.

Valaris Stock Down 3.9 %

Valaris stock opened at $46.41 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $52.36 and its 200-day moving average is $64.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Valaris Limited has a fifty-two week low of $46.03 and a fifty-two week high of $84.20.

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 value of $1,450,020.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 24,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 this link. Also, COO Gilles Luca sold 30,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 108,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,160,326.12. This represents a 21.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,403 shares of company stock valued at $4,028,246 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Valaris from $95.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Valaris from $61.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark lowered shares of Valaris from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Valaris from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valaris has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.00.

Valaris Profile

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.