Insider Selling: Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Director Sells $1,486,544.40 in Stock

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.20, for a total value of $1,486,544.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 942,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,362,813.20. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Monday, April 6th, Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of Diamondback Energy stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.93, for a total value of $1,523,708.01.
• On Monday, March 9th, Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of Diamondback Energy stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.27, for a total value of $1,439,952.39.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ FANG opened at $201.10 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.20 and a fifty-two week high of $214.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.13. The stock has a market cap of $56.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 233.84 and a beta of 0.46.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 488.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $231.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Benchmark cut Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $187.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. TD Cowen upgraded Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $218.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 245.1% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.