Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Shares Sold by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Key Points

• Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI cut its Diamondback Energy stake by 39.5% in the first quarter, selling 5,012 shares and leaving it with 7,661 shares worth about $1.52 million.
• Insider selling continued, including Director Charles Alvin Meloy’s sale of 83,334 shares under a 10b5-1 plan and Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann’s sale of 500 shares. Insiders have sold 113,691 shares over the past three months.
• Diamondback reported solid quarterly results, posting EPS of $4.23 and revenue of $4.24 billion, both above expectations, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share.

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI reduced its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 39.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,661 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 5,012 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 31.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% during 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 boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.5% in the fourth 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 boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.1% in the first 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, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,725 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,640,370.50. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $15,593,458.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 851,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,338,293.60. This represents a 8.91% 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. Insiders sold 113,691 shares of company stock valued at $21,622,752 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on FANG. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $212.00 target price on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $221.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $218.68.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 2.3%

FANG opened at $199.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.21 billion, a PE ratio of 232.33 and a beta of 0.42. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $191.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $134.30 and a 12-month high of $214.51.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.74 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The firm's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.9 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is 511.63%.

Diamondback Energy Profile

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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