Prudential Financial Inc. Reduces Position in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Free Report) by 56.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,751 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,664 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.07% of Vital Energy worth $858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vital Energy by 29.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 401,302 shares of the company's stock worth $10,795,000 after purchasing an additional 90,523 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Vital Energy by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,490 shares of the company's stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Vital Energy by 831.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,992 shares of the company's stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 14,275 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Vital Energy by 14.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,755,173 shares of the company's stock worth $47,214,000 after acquiring an additional 220,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Energy during the third quarter worth about $846,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.54% of the company's stock.

Vital Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTLE traded up $0.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $13.71. 1,754,368 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,026,516. The firm has a market cap of $522.79 million, a PE ratio of -2.89 and a beta of 2.82. Vital Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.30 and a fifty-two week high of $58.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.35.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $534.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $550.90 million. Vital Energy had a positive return on equity of 9.48% and a negative net margin of 8.89%. As a group, analysts predict that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $44.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup downgraded Vital Energy to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded Vital Energy from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Richard D. Campbell purchased 5,000 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.75 per share, for a total transaction of $88,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $764,528. This trade represents a 13.13 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of Vital Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total value of $207,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 97,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,335.88. The trade was a 9.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,647 shares of company stock valued at $448,742. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vital Energy Profile

Vital Energy, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin of West Texas, the United States. The company was formerly known as Laredo Petroleum, Inc and changed its name to Vital Energy, Inc in January 2023.