First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Stock Position in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 465,690 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 52,969 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.28% of Liberty Energy worth $9,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LBRT. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 257.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Liberty Energy by 604.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,460 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 176.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,423 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 2,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $99,000. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 3.0 %

LBRT traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.25. 2,733,685 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,750,162. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $13.67 and a 200 day moving average of $17.07. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.50 and a 12-month high of $24.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.01. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. The company had revenue of $977.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $960.64 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Liberty Energy's payout ratio is 21.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $16.00 to $13.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Liberty Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.05.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In other Liberty Energy news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $12,868,218.48. This trade represents a 1.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Liberty Energy Company Profile

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.