Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Director Charles Alvin Meloy Sells 83,334 Shares of Stock

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $15,593,458.08. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Charles Alvin Meloy also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, May 7th, Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of Diamondback Energy stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.20, for a total value of $1,486,544.40.
• On Monday, April 6th, Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of Diamondback Energy stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.93, for a total value of $1,523,708.01.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $185.48 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.30 and a 52 week high of $214.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $195.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.39. The firm has a market cap of $52.18 billion, a PE ratio of 215.68 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.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 511.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on FANG. Barclays increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Freedom Capital raised Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Benchmark lowered Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 37.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,726 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,301,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 51,104 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,022,000 after purchasing an additional 6,069 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 52,355 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 37.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 154,582 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $21,239,000 after purchasing an additional 41,866 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.