Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 83.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,714 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,639 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $94,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Liberty Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 579,782 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,530,000 after buying an additional 14,700 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $6,792,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 58,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 11,200 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 437,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,707,000 after purchasing an additional 2,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 365.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 112,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,232,000 after purchasing an additional 88,115 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LBRT. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $11.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Liberty Energy in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.94, for a total transaction of $179,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 717,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,868,218.48. This trade represents a 1.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Liberty Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:LBRT traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $12.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,515,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,743,054. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.50 and a 1 year high of $24.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.02 and a 200-day moving average of $17.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 6.57 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

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

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.