Sterling Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 27.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,343 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 8,342 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $4,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 245.1% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 264.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 186 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,640,370.50. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $15,593,458.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 851,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,338,293.60. This trade represents a 8.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 121,548 shares of company stock valued at $23,146,460. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial set a $242.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $249.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $221.37.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 1.4%

FANG stock opened at $179.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $50.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 209.20 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.59. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.30 and a 52 week high of $214.51.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.92 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 511.63%.

About Diamondback Energy

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.