Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) VP Sells $179,910.00 in Stock

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total value of $179,910.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,241.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $203.72 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 1.91. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.41 and a 1-year high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.29%.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.5% during the first quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,655 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 2.8% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,612 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 424 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FANG. Raymond James reduced their price target on Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Bank Of America (Bofa) decreased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $147.00 to $129.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.68.

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.