Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 3,980 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Private Advisor Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,749 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 3,980 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $6,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 37.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,726 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth $2,301,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 13.5% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 51,104 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,022,000 after purchasing an additional 6,069 shares during the period. AXA S.A. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 8.5% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 52,355 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,103 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 37.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 154,582 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $21,239,000 after purchasing an additional 41,866 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock traded up $3.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $177.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 197,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,788,735. The company has a market capitalization of $49.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 206.18 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.33. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $134.30 and a one year high of $214.51. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 511.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.90, for a total value of $1,406,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 85,755 shares in the company, valued at $17,228,179.50. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,640,370.50. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 113,691 shares of company stock valued at $21,622,752. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FANG. Wells Fargo & Company set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $229.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.68.

About Diamondback Energy

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.