Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Shares Sold by Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 3.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 236,700 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 8,600 shares during the period. Diamondback Energy makes up approximately 1.7% of Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $46,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 45,277 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $8,956,000 after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares in the last quarter. Navigate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at $221,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at $40,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at $258,000. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 3,500.0% during the 1st quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 1,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of FANG stock opened at $191.60 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $191.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.76. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.30 and a twelve month high of $214.51. The company has a market capitalization of $53.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 222.79 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 EPS 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 in the prior year, the business earned $4.54 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.25 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 511.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,640,370.50. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $15,593,458.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 851,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,338,293.60. This trade represents a 8.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,691 shares of company stock valued at $21,622,752. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FANG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $229.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.68.

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.