Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 6,036 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,459 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 6,036 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $6,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,520 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 49,970 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $6,866,000 after purchasing an additional 2,832 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 111.4% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.7% in the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 4,590 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 48.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,170 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,672,000 after buying an additional 3,945 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total transaction of $2,913,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 102,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,586,306. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG opened at $139.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.89. The firm has a market cap of $40.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 1.04. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.00 and a 1 year high of $196.00.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.05). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 27.25% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $192.00 to $188.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $163.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $173.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $192.32.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, acquires, develops, explores, and exploits unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. It focuses on the development of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations of the Midland basin; and the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations of the Delaware basin, which are part of the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.