Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Stock Position Reduced by Aventail Capital Group LP

Key Points

• Aventail Capital Group LP cut its Diamondback Energy stake by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 22,657 shares and ending with 27,489 shares worth about $4.13 million.
• Insider selling continued at Diamondback, with Director Charles Alvin Meloy selling 83,334 shares and Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann selling 500 shares; insiders sold 121,548 shares total in the last quarter.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on FANG, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $223.63, while the stock also benefited from a recent dividend increase to $1.10 per quarter.

Aventail Capital Group LP lessened its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 45.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,489 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 22,657 shares during the period. Aventail Capital Group LP's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $4,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 245.1% in the 4th 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. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 264.7% in the 4th 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 own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 8.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,640,370.50. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 121,548 shares of company stock valued at $23,146,460 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FANG. Barclays raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Roth Mkm reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $223.63.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 1.4%

FANG opened at $185.48 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.30 and a 12 month high of $214.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $52.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 215.68 and a beta of 0.42. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $195.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.39.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.54 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is 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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