Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Makes New Investment in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT acquired 15,560 shares of Diamondback Energy worth approximately $3.08 million during the first quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 90.01% of the company.
• Diamondback Energy exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $4.23 in EPS and $4.24 billion in revenue, with revenue up 4.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10, equivalent to a 2.1% annual yield.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $218.68, compared with the stock’s reported price of $204.68. However, company insiders sold 113,691 shares worth $21.6 million over the past 90 days.

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,560 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $3,078,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 274 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,719 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 14,330 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $2,161,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV now owns 3,584 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 301 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $204.68 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average is $191.42 and its 200 day moving average is $182.82. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.30 and a 12 month high of $214.51. The company has a market capitalization of $57.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 238.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business 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%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.54 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $1.10 dividend. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is presently 511.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.90, for a total transaction of $1,406,300.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 85,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,228,179.50. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.54, for a total value of $1,002,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,392 shares in the company, valued at $9,303,451.68. The trade was a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,691 shares of company stock valued at $21,622,752. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Diamondback Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Diamondback Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Roth Capital set a $212.00 target price on Diamondback Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $218.68.

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.

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