Equitable Trust Co. Sells 8,974 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Equitable Trust Co. cut its Diamondback Energy stake by 19.8% in the first quarter, selling 8,974 shares and leaving it with 36,255 shares valued at about $7.17 million.
• Diamondback Energy reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.23 versus estimates of $3.74 and revenue of $4.24 billion versus $3.83 billion expected.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $220.68.

Equitable Trust Co. decreased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 19.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,255 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 8,974 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $7,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 264.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 186 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $182.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 211.63 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.56. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.30 and a fifty-two week high of $214.51. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $192.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.21.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is currently 511.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FANG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Capital set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $220.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,640,370.50. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.90, for a total transaction of $1,406,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 85,755 shares in the company, valued at $17,228,179.50. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 113,691 shares of company stock valued at $21,622,752 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

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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