Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,027 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 6,449 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $5,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 274 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,719 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,822,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 14,330 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,161,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV now owns 3,584 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 301 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on FANG. Wall Street Zen upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $221.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.68.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.90, for a total transaction of $1,406,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 85,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,228,179.50. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 approximately $159,338,293.60. This trade represents a 8.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,691 shares of company stock worth $21,622,752. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $195.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $55.08 billion, a PE ratio of 227.68 and a beta of 0.42. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $134.30 and a 1 year high of $214.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $191.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $183.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 511.63%.

About Diamondback Energy

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.