Guggenheim Capital LLC Sells 16,657 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Guggenheim Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 17.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 76,519 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 16,657 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $12,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC now owns 3,559 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,414 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,779 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 65.0% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Biondo Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,858 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $4,614,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $163.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.33.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total value of $2,913,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 102,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,586,306. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 2.2%

FANG stock opened at $147.06 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $142.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.48. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.00 and a fifty-two week high of $200.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 27.25% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.52 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.43%.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, acquires, develops, explores, and exploits unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. It focuses on the development of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations of the Midland basin; and the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations of the Delaware basin, which are part of the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.