Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC cut its Diamondback Energy stake by 17% in the fourth quarter, selling 14,160 shares and leaving it with 69,202 shares worth about $10.4 million.
• Diamondback posted better-than-expected quarterly results, reporting EPS of $4.23 versus $3.74 expected and revenue of $4.24 billion versus $3.83 billion forecast.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share from $1.05, while analysts still hold a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $221.84.

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,202 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 14,160 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $10,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 245.1% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FANG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Roth Mkm reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price objective on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Benchmark cut Diamondback Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $221.84.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $200.71 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.46 billion, a PE ratio of 233.39 and a beta of 0.46. 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 $133.75 and a 12 month high of $214.51.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. The firm 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%.Diamondback Energy's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 511.63%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 107,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,473,450. This represents a 4.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total value of $1,130,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,484 shares of the company's stock, valued at $844,561.40. The trade was a 57.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 174,321 shares of company stock valued at $32,090,475 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

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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