Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Stock Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 51.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,659 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 10,209 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on FANG shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Stephens reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Travis Stice sold 75,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.31, for a total value of $15,323,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 49,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,159,723.37. The trade was a 60.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.74, for a total transaction of $6,124,605.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 759,864 shares in the company, valued at $139,617,411.36. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 141,666 shares of company stock valued at $28,061,456. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $205.75 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.46. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.03 and a fifty-two week high of $216.90. The firm has a market cap of $57.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.11 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 8.58%. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 21.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.77%.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company engaged in the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves. The company’s operations are concentrated in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, particularly the Midland and Delaware Basins.

Diamondback produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids from horizontal wells and related infrastructure. Its activities include drilling and completing wells, operating gathering and processing assets, and managing midstream services that support production.