5,285 Shares in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Purchased by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

Key Points

• First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired 5,285 Diamondback Energy shares during the third quarter, valued at approximately $971,000. Institutional investors collectively own 90.01% of FANG’s outstanding stock.
• Diamondback Energy reported quarterly results above expectations, with earnings per share of $6.48 versus the $6.08 consensus and revenue of $5.56 billion, up 51.2% year over year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $1.10, equivalent to an annualized $4.40 and a 2.2% yield. Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $226.71.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,285 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $971,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 1.0%

FANG stock opened at $195.60 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $196.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.77 billion, a PE ratio of 38.13 and a beta of 0.55. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.03 and a 12 month high of $216.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. The company's revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 20.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FANG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $211.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Diamondback Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, September 13th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $206.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Roth Capital raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $226.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Travis Stice sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.31, for a total transaction of $15,323,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 49,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,159,723.37. This represents a 60.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.74, for a total value of $6,124,605.42. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 759,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at $139,617,411.36. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 141,666 shares of company stock worth $28,061,456. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company headquartered in Midland, Texas. The company focuses primarily on the acquisition, development, exploration and production of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

Diamondback's operations are concentrated in the Midland and Delaware sub-basins, where it develops properties using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Its production includes crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

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