Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 27,494 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its position in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 165,751 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,494 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.10% of Liberty Energy worth $3,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 237.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy by 604.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 176.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,184 shares during the period. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $99,000. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total value of $179,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 717,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,868,218.48. This trade represents a 1.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:LBRT opened at $16.09 on Thursday. Liberty Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.86 and a twelve month high of $24.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.42.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. Equities research analysts expect that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LBRT. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised Liberty Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.90.

About Liberty Energy

Liberty Energy Inc provides hydraulic services and related technologies to onshore oil and natural gas exploration, and production companies in North America. The company offers hydraulic fracturing services, including complementary services, such as wireline services, proppant delivery solutions, field gas processing and treating, compressed natural gas (CNG) delivery, data analytics, related goods comprising sand mine operations, and technologies; and well site fueling and logistics.