Moran Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Moran Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 3.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,140 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 1,090 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $3,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $230,039,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $77,622,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,950,160 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $311,792,000 after buying an additional 418,431 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 50.6% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,135,759 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $181,585,000 after buying an additional 381,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,418,840 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $861,961,000 after buying an additional 249,098 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FANG. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $213.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $173.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $192.00 to $188.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, August 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $192.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total value of $2,913,120.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 102,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,586,306. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $141.83 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.00 and a fifty-two week high of $186.74. The stock has a market cap of $41.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.79.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.