Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 10,574 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 157,810 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 10,574 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Diamondback Energy worth $25,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barden Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,380 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,516 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 2,023 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. now owns 4,051 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,439 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van't sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total transaction of $1,426,900.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 120,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,214,835.05. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG stock opened at $152.93 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $137.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.15. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $214.50. The firm has a market cap of $44.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.87. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 30.84%. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.50 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 81.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on FANG. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup upgraded Diamondback Energy from a "reduce" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $207.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $193.13.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, acquires, develops, explores, and exploits unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. It focuses on the development of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations of the Midland basin; and the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations of the Delaware basin, which are part of the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.

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