Charles Alvin Meloy Sells 83,334 Shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $15,593,458.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 851,530 shares in the company, valued at $159,338,293.60. This represents a 8.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Thursday, May 7th, Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of Diamondback Energy stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.20, for a total transaction of $1,486,544.40.
• On Monday, April 6th, Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of Diamondback Energy stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.93, for a total transaction of $1,523,708.01.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ FANG traded down $2.64 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $185.48. 2,266,537 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,816,845. The business’s fifty day moving average is $195.51 and its 200 day moving average is $176.13. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.30 and a fifty-two week high of $214.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 215.68 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.54 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 511.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in 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. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $202.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $249.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.63.

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.