Moran Wealth Management LLC Has $7.16 Million Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Moran Wealth Management increased its stake in Diamondback by 46.6% in Q4 and now owns 47,596 shares worth approximately $7.16 million.
• Significant insider selling has occurred recently — Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 63,957 shares (~$11.6M) and insiders have sold 1,217,069 shares valued at about $201.2 million in the last 90 days, leaving corporate insiders with just 0.70% ownership.
• Diamondback raised its quarterly dividend to $1.05 (a $4.20 annualized payout, ~2.3% yield) even as it missed EPS ($1.74 vs. $2.00) and saw revenue decline, while analysts maintain a consensus "Buy" rating with an average target of about $204.14.

Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 46.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,596 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,119 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $7,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 233.9% in the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 12,673 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 8,877 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 9.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 117,733 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $16,848,000 after purchasing an additional 10,289 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at about $472,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 9.7% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,385,428 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $198,255,000 after purchasing an additional 122,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WoodTrust Financial Corp acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at about $1,624,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total value of $1,130,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,484 shares of the company's stock, valued at $844,561.40. This represents a 57.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 63,957 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.16, for a total value of $11,586,450.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 305,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,310,684.24. This represents a 17.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,217,069 shares of company stock valued at $201,213,109. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $180.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $50.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13 and a beta of 0.50. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.75 and a 12 month high of $204.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $182.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.07.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.The firm's revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is presently 74.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FANG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $187.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $200.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Scotiabank raised Diamondback Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $204.14.

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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