American Century Companies Inc. Raises Holdings in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE - Free Report) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 497,442 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 52,382 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.30% of Vital Energy worth $15,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vital Energy by 276.9% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Vital Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Vital Energy by 247.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,553 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the period. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. purchased a new stake in Vital Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Vital Energy by 121.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,151 shares of the company's stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,825 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.54% of the company's stock.

Vital Energy Price Performance

VTLE traded down $2.87 during trading on Friday, reaching $13.94. 3,383,071 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 993,036. The company has a market cap of $531.22 million, a P/E ratio of -2.93 and a beta of 2.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.78. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.40 and a 12-month high of $58.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.10.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $534.37 million during 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vital Energy news, COO Kathryn Anne Hill sold 5,673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $117,601.29. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 46,413 shares in the company, valued at $962,141.49. The trade was a 10.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bryan Lemmerman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.73, for a total transaction of $207,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,335.88. This represents a 9.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,647 shares of company stock worth $448,742. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VTLE. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Vital Energy from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Williams Trading set a $27.00 price target on Vital Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup cut shares of Vital Energy to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Siebert Williams Shank downgraded Vital Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $62.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.08.

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.