Waverly Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Waverly Advisors LLC raised its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 940.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,804 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 33,265 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $7,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 245.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth $26,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth $26,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.54, for a total value of $1,002,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,303,451.68. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $15,593,458.08. Following the sale, the director directly owned 851,530 shares in the company, valued at $159,338,293.60. This represents a 8.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 113,691 shares of company stock worth $21,622,752. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on FANG shares. Roth Capital set a $212.00 target price on Diamondback Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Diamondback Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Four investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $218.68.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $195.80 on Tuesday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.30 and a fifty-two week high of $214.51. The company has a market capitalization of $55.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 227.68 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $191.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.18. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 511.63%.

Diamondback Energy Profile

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.