American Century Companies Inc. Increases Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. by 25.6%, owning approximately 680,637 shares valued at $108.8 million as of the end of the most recent quarter.
• Diamondback Energy's Chairman, Travis D. Stice, sold 20,400 shares at an average price of $142.80, reducing his ownership by 16.65% to 102,145 shares.
• Despite missing earnings estimates for the quarter, Diamondback reported a revenue of $3.68 billion, up 48.1% year-over-year, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, yielding 2.9% annually.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 25.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 680,637 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 138,795 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.23% of Diamondback Energy worth $108,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 95.7% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 180 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 596.4% during the first quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 195 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 119.8% in the 1st quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 200 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total value of $2,913,120.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 102,145 shares in the company, valued at $14,586,306. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FANG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $192.00 to $188.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $193.33.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:FANG traded down $1.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $137.87. 1,582,025 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,438,033. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $143.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.18. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.00 and a 1 year high of $200.47. The company has a market cap of $39.91 billion, a PE ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 1.09.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 27.25% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 48.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.43%.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.