Vistra (NYSE:VST) Stock Price Down 4.5% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) dropped 4.5% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $184.47 and last traded at $190.2360. Approximately 9,261,206 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 42% from the average daily volume of 6,532,615 shares. The stock had previously closed at $199.30.

Specifically, CEO James A. Burke sold 19,613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $3,669,984.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 295,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,205,826.48. This trade represents a 6.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James A. Burke sold 19,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.46, for a total transaction of $3,850,616.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 297,429 shares in the company, valued at $58,432,901.34. The trade was a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In related news, CEO James A. Burke sold 2,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.15, for a total value of $387,265.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 290,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,062,560.10. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VST. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Vistra in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Vistra in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research upgraded shares of Vistra to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vistra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vistra currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $229.93.

Vistra Trading Down 4.5%

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $199.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.58.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.62). The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 108.41% and a net margin of 12.90%. As a group, analysts forecast that Vistra Corp. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vistra

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 2nd quarter worth about $930,080,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Vistra by 40.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,469,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,253,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,931 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vistra during the 1st quarter worth about $209,149,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vistra by 280.6% during the 2nd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,356,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,876,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Vistra by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,537,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $879,390,000 after buying an additional 913,350 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia.