USA Financial Formulas Purchases New Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• USA Financial Formulas acquired 6,205 shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter, valued at approximately $1.14 million. Institutional investors own about 90% of the company.
• Diamondback reported quarterly earnings of $6.48 per share, exceeding estimates of $6.08, while revenue rose 51.2% year over year to $5.56 billion.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $226.71, versus a recent price of $203.95.

USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,205 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $1,141,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $395,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 31.1% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,739 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Intelligence LLC grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.0% in the third quarter. Wealth Intelligence LLC now owns 2,444 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 11.2% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,651 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.2% in the third quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 16,288 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $2,994,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 4.3%

FANG opened at $203.95 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.76 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $137.03 and a one year high of $216.90.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.08 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.89 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 8.58%. The business's revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. Analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 21.07 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is 85.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Travis D. Stice sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.31, for a total value of $15,323,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 49,727 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,159,723.37. This trade represents a 60.13% 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 Meloy sold 33,333 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.74, for a total transaction of $6,124,605.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 759,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $139,617,411.36. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 141,666 shares of company stock valued at $28,061,456. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on FANG. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $259.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up from $205.00) on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Sunday, October 11th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $206.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $226.71.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company headquartered in Midland, Texas. The company focuses primarily on the acquisition, development, exploration and production of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

Diamondback's operations are concentrated in the Midland and Delaware sub-basins, where it develops properties using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Its production includes crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

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