Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Shares Sold by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S cut its Diamondback Energy stake by 66.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 26,310 shares and leaving it with 13,210 shares worth about $1.99 million.
• Several analysts remain constructive on FANG, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $223.26. Recent notes included higher targets from Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Sanford C. Bernstein.
• Diamondback reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.23 per share on revenue of $4.24 billion, and it recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share from $1.05.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lowered its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 66.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,210 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 26,310 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $4,854,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 21,595 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $3,245,000 after purchasing an additional 3,626 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 354,655 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $53,315,000 after purchasing an additional 34,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 8,689 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on FANG. Roth Mkm restated a "neutral" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Freedom Capital raised Diamondback Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $223.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.90, for a total transaction of $1,406,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 85,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,228,179.50. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total value of $1,130,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,484 shares of the company's stock, valued at $844,561.40. This trade represents a 57.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 78,464 shares of company stock valued at $14,946,406 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $194.24 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $54.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 225.86 and a beta of 0.42. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.30 and a fifty-two week high of $214.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $195.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.57.

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 firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.Diamondback Energy's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

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

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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