Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Bought by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 604.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,460 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,111 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $47,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 1,702.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 216,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,130,000 after acquiring an additional 204,360 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 4.7% in the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 79,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 286.8% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 42,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 31,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Liberty Energy by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 94,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 5,308 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 1.3 %

LBRT stock opened at $17.23 on Thursday. Liberty Energy Inc. has a one year low of $16.57 and a one year high of $24.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 14.28%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Liberty Energy’s payout ratio is currently 17.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction 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 approximately $12,868,218.48. The trade was a 1.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,936 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $56,253.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,543,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,740,683.32. The trade was a 0.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 68,936 shares of company stock valued at $1,341,184 over the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LBRT. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of 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 began coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets raised Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.30.

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.