Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 84,946 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,033 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Liberty Energy were worth $1,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 96.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in Liberty Energy by 237.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 604.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Liberty Energy during the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 93.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 2,016 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LBRT has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Liberty Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Liberty Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Liberty Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Liberty Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.30.

Liberty Energy Price Performance

Shares of LBRT opened at $17.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Liberty Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.57 and a 1-year high of $24.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.23.

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Liberty Energy Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael Stock sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.82, for a total value of $416,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 680,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,161,909.74. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher A. Wright sold 2,936 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $56,253.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,543,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,740,683.32. This trade represents a 0.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,936 shares of company stock valued at $1,341,184. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.