Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 11,259 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its position in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 24.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,654 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,259 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 59.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY bought a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $127,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $190,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Liberty Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $191,000. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Liberty Energy stock opened at $23.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.62 and a 1-year high of $23.31. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.85.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 26.46%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on LBRT. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Liberty Energy in a research report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Liberty Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.30.

Insider Activity at Liberty Energy

In related news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total transaction of $453,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,858,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,780,725.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Liberty Energy news, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 20,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.66, for a total value of $453,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,858,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,780,725.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total transaction of $268,491.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 69,963 shares in the company, valued at $1,507,702.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 98,459 shares of company stock worth $2,077,491. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Liberty Energy 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.