Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 5,257 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 42.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,248 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 5,257 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% in the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 99.2% during the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 251 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.64.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $182.42 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $181.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.70. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.70 and a 52-week high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $53.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at $852,872. This trade represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.