Insider Selling: Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Director Sells 6,000 Shares of Stock

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Director Steven West sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total transaction of $1,130,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $844,561.40. This represents a 57.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of FANG traded up $0.63 on Thursday, hitting $190.31. 3,251,476 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,951,192. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $114.00 and a one year high of $193.75. The company has a market capitalization of $53.53 billion, a PE ratio of 33.92 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 74.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FANG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $173.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $187.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $195.43.

Key Diamondback Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Diamondback Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several firms raised price targets and reiterations surfaced this week (Raymond James raised its PT to $240; UBS, Wells Fargo and others boosted targets), supporting upside expectations and likely fueling buying interest. Raymond James PT Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Macro/sector tailwinds: Bank of America and other outlets highlighted a tighter oil supply outlook (Strait of Hormuz disruptions) that lifts the U.S. energy outlook and makes Permian producers like Diamondback attractive. BofA Oil Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase: the company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.05 (annualized $4.20, ~2.2% yield), which can support investor demand from income-focused holders. Dividend Announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest data reported no material short position (short-interest ratio ~0 days), which suggests limited short-squeeze dynamics but also little bearish positioning to unwind. (Data point: March 19 short interest update.)
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider selling: EVP Matt Zmigrosky disclosed a sizeable sale (reported filings show cumulative sales — including a 20,899-share disposition), which may concern some investors about insider conviction. Zmigrosky SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Additional insider sales: CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 5,000 shares (~$950k) and CFO Jere Thompson III sold 750 shares; multiple insider dispositions in a short window can weigh on sentiment despite being common for tax or diversification reasons. Teresa Dick SEC Filing Thompson SEC Filing

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,325,287 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,204,894,000 after acquiring an additional 388,512 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,733,538 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $821,649,000 after purchasing an additional 163,548 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,621,120 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $844,073,000 after purchasing an additional 14,625 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,159,365 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $775,607,000 after purchasing an additional 532,756 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,332,885 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $651,363,000 after purchasing an additional 534,073 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.