Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 62,771 Shares of Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,116,497 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 62,771 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 5.55% of Vital Energy worth $65,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Vital Energy by 679.0% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 90,298 shares of the company's stock worth $2,792,000 after purchasing an additional 78,706 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $124,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Vital Energy by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 94,691 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,928,000 after buying an additional 2,312 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Vital Energy by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 497,442 shares of the company's stock worth $15,381,000 after acquiring an additional 52,382 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Vital Energy by 192.1% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 61,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,913,000 after acquiring an additional 40,681 shares during the period. 86.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VTLE shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Vital Energy from $32.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Vital Energy from $44.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup cut Vital Energy to a "reduce" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Energy

In other news, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,556 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,022,335.88. This represents a 9.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 5,673 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 transaction of $117,601.29. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 46,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,141.49. This represents a 10.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,647 shares of company stock worth $448,742. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Vital Energy Stock Up 5.0 %

NYSE VTLE traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $14.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 164,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,024,011. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $23.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.17. Vital Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.30 and a twelve month high of $55.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $540.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.98 and a beta of 2.82.

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

About Vital Energy

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.