Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Takes $785,000 Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,463 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $785,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 264.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 186 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $199.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $55.97 billion, a PE ratio of 38.96 and a beta of 0.43. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.30 and a fifty-two week high of $216.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $192.34 and a 200-day moving average of $189.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 8.58%.The business had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 20.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 85.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 33,333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.41, for a total value of $6,613,600.53. Following the sale, the director directly owned 818,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,338,466.77. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.54, for a total transaction of $1,002,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,303,451.68. This trade represents a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 129,167 shares of company stock valued at $24,714,309. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FANG. Susquehanna increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $246.00 to $243.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.21.

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.