Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Stock Position Cut by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors cut its Diamondback Energy stake by 10.1% in the second quarter, selling 6,153 shares and retaining 54,805 shares valued at approximately $9.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.01% of FANG.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $224.05, although Barclays and other firms recently adjusted their ratings or targets.
• Diamondback reported a strong quarter, earning $6.48 per share versus the $6.08 estimate and generating $5.56 billion in revenue, up 51.2% year over year. The company also declared a $1.10 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 2.1% yield.

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,805 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 6,153 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $9,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FANG. Barclays decreased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Diamondback Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Zacks Research cut Diamondback Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $259.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $224.05.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of FANG opened at $205.39 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $197.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.04 and a beta of 0.43. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.30 and a 1-year high of $216.90.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 20.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is 85.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Charles Meloy sold 83,334 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 8.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The company's operations are concentrated primarily in the Midland and Delaware sub-basins.

Diamondback produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include drilling and completing horizontal wells, operating gathering and infrastructure assets, and managing mineral and royalty interests through its Viper Energy platform.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.