Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Shares Acquired by Geode Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management slightly increased its Diamondback Energy stake by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 5.62 million shares valued at about $844.1 million.
• Diamondback Energy insiders sold shares during the quarter, including EVP Matt Zmigrosky and Director Charles Alvin Meloy, while total insider sales reached 174,321 shares worth $32.1 million.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations with Q1 EPS of $4.23 versus $3.74 expected and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share; analysts still rate the stock a consensus Buy with an average target of $223.26.

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,621,120 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,625 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.96% of Diamondback Energy worth $844,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 245.1% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 264.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 186 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 20,899 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $3,761,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 60,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,888,740. This trade represents a 25.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.27, for a total transaction of $1,439,952.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 974,149 shares of the company's stock, valued at $178,532,287.23. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 174,321 shares of company stock worth $32,090,475 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 1.4%

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $191.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $53.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 222.65 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company's 50-day moving average price is $195.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.79. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.75 and a 52 week high of $214.51.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. Diamondback Energy's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.54 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is 511.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on FANG. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $187.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $223.26.

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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