Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 3,846 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lessened its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,730 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 3,846 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $5,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 245.1% in the 4th 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 period. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 5,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 107,755 shares in the company, valued at $20,473,450. The trade was a 4.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.10, for a total transaction of $1,000,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 51,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,283,539.20. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 169,321 shares of company stock worth $31,055,475. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $203.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 236.70 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.76. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.20 and a 52 week high of $214.51.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.54 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 511.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FANG shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $231.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $173.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, January 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.25.

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.