Leeward Investments LLC MA Decreases Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Leeward Investments LLC MA trimmed its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 57,558 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 3,447 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $8,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 245.1% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.20, for a total transaction of $1,486,544.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 942,721 shares in the company, valued at $178,362,813.20. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.10, for a total value of $1,000,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 51,392 shares in the company, valued at $10,283,539.20. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 169,321 shares of company stock worth $31,055,475. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of FANG stock opened at $203.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $191.72 and a 200 day moving average of $167.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $57.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 236.70 and a beta of 0.46. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.20 and a twelve month high of $214.51.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.54 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.04 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 511.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on FANG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $202.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $187.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $231.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $242.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $218.25.

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.