Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 236,700 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 8,600 shares during the quarter. Diamondback Energy accounts for about 1.7% of Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.08% of Diamondback Energy worth $46,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 45,277 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $8,956,000 after buying an additional 4,948 shares in the last quarter. Navigate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the first quarter valued at $221,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $258,000. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3,500.0% during the 1st quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $15,593,458.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 851,530 shares in the company, valued at $159,338,293.60. This trade represents a 8.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,640,370.50. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,691 shares of company stock valued at $21,622,752. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FANG shares. Zacks Research cut Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $249.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $229.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.68.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG stock opened at $191.60 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $191.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $53.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 222.79 and a beta of 0.42. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.30 and a 52-week high of $214.51.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.54 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 511.63%.

Diamondback Energy 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.