Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 5,678 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 160,520 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 5,678 shares during the quarter. Diamondback Energy accounts for approximately 0.7% of Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $24,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 37.5% during 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 bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,301,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 13.5% during 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. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 8.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,103 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 37.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 41,866 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $203.56 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.20 and a 1 year high of $214.51. The stock has a market cap of $57.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 236.70 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $191.72 and a 200 day moving average of $167.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 511.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FANG. Freedom Capital raised shares of Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $178.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $242.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $218.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 5,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 107,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,473,450. The trade was a 4.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 20,899 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $3,761,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 60,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,888,740. This trade represents a 25.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 169,321 shares of company stock valued at $31,055,475. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.