Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Stock Price Down 3.9% on Insider Selling

Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) fell 3.9% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $17.60 and last traded at $17.61. 220,756 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 2,507,362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.33.

Specifically, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total transaction of $291,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,562,813 shares in the company, valued at $46,720,080.99. This trade represents a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael Stock sold 10,000 shares of Liberty Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.49, for a total value of $184,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 705,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,039,277.43. The trade was a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on LBRT. Evercore ISI raised shares of Liberty Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays reduced their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Atb Cap Markets lowered Liberty Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Liberty Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.89.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 1.71. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $18.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.20.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.10). Liberty Energy had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 18.50%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is an increase from Liberty Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Liberty Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LBRT. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Liberty Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Liberty Energy by 96.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 69.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,743 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 237.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 45.0% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company's stock.

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.