Saudi Central Bank Acquires 6,418 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Saudi Central Bank increased its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 93.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,292 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 6,418 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $2,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the second quarter valued at about $63,000. Shah Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $291,000. Markowski Investments bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Syon Capital LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 131.6% in the second quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 5,228 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $919,000 after purchasing an additional 2,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 90.2% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,621 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $4,504,000 after purchasing an additional 12,152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Charles Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $15,593,458.08. Following the sale, the director owned 851,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,338,293.60. This trade represents a 8.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FANG shares. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Zacks Research cut Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.21.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG stock opened at $199.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $195.37 and a 200-day moving average of $192.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.83 and a beta of 0.43. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.30 and a 12 month high of $216.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 20.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.77%.

Diamondback Energy 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.