Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 2,197,352 Shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Free Report) by 83.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,828,712 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,197,352 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 2.95% of Liberty Energy worth $96,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 237.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 604.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,460 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Liberty Energy by 257.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,583 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 2,184 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 717,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,868,218.48. This represents a 1.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on LBRT. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Liberty Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Liberty Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Liberty Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $24.00 to $19.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.90.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Liberty Energy stock traded down $0.67 during trading on Monday, reaching $10.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,791,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,652,508. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.27. The business's fifty day moving average price is $16.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.28. The firm has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 1.18. Liberty Energy Inc. has a one year low of $9.79 and a one year high of $24.75.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.06). Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 7.32%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Liberty Energy's payout ratio is presently 17.11%.

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.