Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Director Charles Alvin Meloy Sells 83,334 Shares

Key Points

• Diamondback Energy director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares on June 16 at an average price of $187.12, totaling about $15.6 million. The sale reduced his stake by 8.91% and was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• The stock was down 1.4% in Wednesday trading to $185.48, with a market cap of about $52.2 billion. Diamondback also has a 52-week range of $134.30 to $214.51.
• Diamondback recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $4.23 EPS versus the $3.74 consensus and revenue of $4.24 billion. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 from $1.05, and analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy.”

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $15,593,458.08. Following the sale, the director owned 851,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $159,338,293.60. The trade was a 8.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Charles Alvin Meloy also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, May 7th, Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of Diamondback Energy stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.20, for a total transaction of $1,486,544.40.
• On Monday, April 6th, Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of Diamondback Energy stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.93, for a total transaction of $1,523,708.01.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of FANG traded down $2.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $185.48. The stock had a trading volume of 2,266,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,816,845. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.30 and a 52 week high of $214.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $195.51 and a 200 day moving average of $176.13. The company has a market cap of $52.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 215.68 and a beta of 0.42.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.Diamondback Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.92 earnings per share 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 is an increase from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 511.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on FANG. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $202.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Diamondback Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $223.63.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 245.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Company 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.

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