Valero Energy Slides as Refining Trade Cools and Investors Take Profits

Valero Energy (VLO) is down 4.1% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The most likely driver appears to be a sector-style pullback rather than a new company-specific setback. Oil prices fell sharply on September 21, 2026, and after a powerful run in refining shares, investors may have used the weaker commodity backdrop to lock in gains; Valero’s latest filing also did not point to a fresh operational or financial problem.

Details:

Crude prices dropped to roughly an 11-day low on September 21, 2026 as the market reacted to signs of possible diplomatic progress in the Middle East and some recovery in regional supply flows.

Valero had been one of the market’s strongest energy winners over the past year, leaving the stock vulnerable to profit-taking when momentum cooled.

A September 18, 2026 Form 8-K showed Valero expanded its board and appointed Matthew Audette to the audit committee, but the filing did not describe a negative earnings, guidance, or balance-sheet event.

Earlier refinery disruption headlines tied to the Port Arthur facility followed Tropical Storm Edouard at the start of September, and follow-up reports indicated restart activity, making that older event a less likely explanation for today’s decline.

Sources:

SEC, AP News, Investing.com, MarketScreener

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$VLO Insider Trading Activity

$VLO insiders have traded $VLO stock on the open market 3 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 3 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $VLO stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

ERIC A FISHER (SVP) has made 0 purchases and 3 sales selling 22,500 shares for an estimated $5,675,152.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

EARLY ACCESS

Receive VLO Data Alerts

Real-time alerts on filings, insider trades, and market signals — before everyone else.

Get Alerts →

$VLO Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 943 institutional investors add shares of $VLO stock to their portfolio, and 894 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIATES INC /MD/ removed 4,209,220 shares (-51.8%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $1,096,249,256
SIXTH STREET PARTNERS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.P. added 2,748,653 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $715,859,187
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO added 2,199,990 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $572,965,395
AQR CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC added 1,330,979 shares (+193.1%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $346,640,170
AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL INC removed 1,314,818 shares (-20.1%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $342,431,199
VICTORY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT INC removed 1,086,570 shares (-64.0%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $282,986,290
GEODE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC removed 1,019,200 shares (-12.3%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $265,440,448

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$VLO Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $VLO recently. We have seen 11 analysts offer price targets for $VLO in the last 6 months, with a median target of $270.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Theresa Chen from Barclays set a target price of $279.0 on 07/01/2026
Jason Gabelman from TD Cowen set a target price of $292.0 on 06/29/2026
Joe Laetsch from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $255.0 on 06/12/2026
Nitin Kumar from Mizuho set a target price of $289.0 on 05/27/2026
Vikram Bagri from Citigroup set a target price of $259.0 on 05/01/2026
Betty Zhang from Scotiabank set a target price of $226.0 on 04/22/2026
Doug Leggate from Wolfe Research set a target price of $203.0 on 04/21/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.