HighTower Advisors LLC Has $9.63 Million Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 54,805 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 6,153 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $9,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FANG. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 264.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.41, for a total transaction of $6,613,600.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 818,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $162,338,466.77. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FANG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $216.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $248.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.05.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 1.4%

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $205.39 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $134.30 and a one year high of $216.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $197.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $57.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.04 and a beta of 0.43.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 8.58%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 20.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 85.77%.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The company’s operations are concentrated primarily in the Midland and Delaware sub-basins.

Diamondback produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include drilling and completing horizontal wells, operating gathering and infrastructure assets, and managing mineral and royalty interests through its Viper Energy platform.