Kennedy Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Kennedy Capital Management reduced its Diamondback Energy stake by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,384 shares and leaving it with 34,128 shares valued at about $5.13 million.
• Insiders have also been selling: CAO Teresa L. Dick and Director Charles Alvin Meloy both trimmed holdings, and insiders sold 53,315 shares total over the last quarter.
• Diamondback reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $4.23 topping estimates and revenue of $4.24 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share.

Kennedy Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,128 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 6,384 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $5,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring 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 $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of the business'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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.20, for a total transaction of $1,486,544.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 942,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $178,362,813.20. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 53,315 shares of company stock valued at $10,414,384. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $189.96 on Tuesday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.30 and a 52-week high of $214.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $195.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.86. The firm has a market cap of $53.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 220.89 and a beta of 0.42.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.54 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 511.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FANG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Benchmark cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $231.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Four 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $223.63.

Diamondback Energy Company 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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