Summit Financial LLC Reduces Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Summit Financial LLC reduced its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. by 71.7%, now holding 19,208 shares valued at approximately $3.07 million.
• Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of Diamondback Energy for over $2.9 million, representing a 16.65% decrease in his ownership.
• Diamondback Energy has several price target adjustments from analysts, with a current consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $193.33.

Summit Financial LLC cut its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 71.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,208 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 48,575 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $3,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,136,645 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,496,859,000 after buying an additional 928,429 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,418,840 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $861,961,000 after acquiring an additional 249,098 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,257,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $680,649,000 after purchasing an additional 94,177 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 5.3% during the first quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102,785 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $655,953,000 after acquiring an additional 208,200 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.1% in the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,932,484 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $468,846,000 after buying an additional 114,930 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total transaction of $2,913,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 102,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,586,306. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FANG shares. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $213.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Diamondback Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.33.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.1%

FANG opened at $138.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $39.95 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 1.09. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.00 and a 1 year high of $200.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $143.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.05). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 27.25%.The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 48.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.43%.

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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