Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Has $364,000 Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,347 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,209,617,000 after buying an additional 648,317 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 2.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,494,159 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $541,175,000 after acquiring an additional 89,663 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 6.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,320,567 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $514,289,000 after acquiring an additional 206,189 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 39.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,007,599 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $465,817,000 after acquiring an additional 858,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,999,579 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $309,695,000 after acquiring an additional 12,237 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total value of $514,536.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,089.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Diamondback Energy news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total value of $514,536.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,089.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total transaction of $179,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,241.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,575 shares of company stock worth $11,491,006. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $204.02. 38,006 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,717,552. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.41 and a 52-week high of $211.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 1.91.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.10 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 20.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.68.

About Diamondback Energy

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.