Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 19,700 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 82.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,120 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 19,700 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FANG. CWM LLC grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,717 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,633 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,852,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 145.2% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 11,993 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 7,102 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 748.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 15,221 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 13,426 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 613.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,401 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,388,000 after purchasing an additional 13,243 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $200.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.27. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.73 and a twelve month high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 36.71%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.29%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Diamondback Energy news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total value of $179,910.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,241.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,900 shares of company stock worth $7,362,750 over the last ninety days. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FANG. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $201.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $154.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com raised Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.35.

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.