Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $180.53, but opened at $176.04. Diamondback Energy shares last traded at $173.29, with a volume of 508,466 shares.

Specifically, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $237.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com cut Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Johnson Rice cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.71.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 4.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $30.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a current ratio of 3.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $191.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.81.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.51% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The company’s revenue was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.97 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $2.34 per share. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,869,787 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $3,391,567,000 after acquiring an additional 176,208 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,706,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,381,488 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $603,038,000 after acquiring an additional 415,902 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 235.6% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $541,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 10.1% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,690,181 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $538,547,000 after buying an additional 247,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Company 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.