Hantz Financial Services Inc. Cuts Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Hantz Financial Services Inc. trimmed its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 50,892 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 4,417 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $7,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,719 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,030 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,435,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 14,330 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,161,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,725 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jere W. Thompson III sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.47, for a total transaction of $136,852.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,975 shares in the company, valued at $3,644,838.25. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.00, for a total value of $1,035,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 92,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,200,285. This represents a 5.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 174,321 shares of company stock worth $32,090,475 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $200.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.46 billion, a PE ratio of 233.39 and a beta of 0.46. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $133.75 and a one year high of $214.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $194.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 511.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on FANG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $202.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. TD Cowen upgraded Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $221.84.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub?basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.