Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Sold by L & S Advisors Inc

L & S Advisors Inc lowered its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 48.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,950 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 13,938 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $2,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 99.2% in the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 251 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FANG shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $182.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $182.85 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.70 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $53.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $181.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.00.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. Analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Profile

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.