Insider Selling: Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) Major Shareholder Sells 250,000 Shares of Stock

Vital Energy, Inc. (NYSE:VTLE) major shareholder Richard D. Campbell sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.25, for a total transaction of $4,562,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,618,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,045,527.25. This trade represents a 3.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Vital Energy Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of NYSE:VTLE opened at $18.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Vital Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.30 and a 52-week high of $47.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.59. The company has a market capitalization of $733.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.60 and a beta of 1.60.

Vital Energy (NYSE:VTLE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.26. Vital Energy had a negative net margin of 6.37% and a positive return on equity of 10.34%. The company had revenue of $512.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $528.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Vital Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Vital Energy, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vital Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Vital Energy by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Vital Energy by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in Vital Energy by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 12,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vital Energy by 58.7% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Vital Energy by 805.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 915 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VTLE shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Vital Energy from $23.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Vital Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.09.

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.