Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,315 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 41,723 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $6,835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $312,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 10,195 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 11,340 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,858,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,270 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $173.26 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.93 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $170.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $50.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.92, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.88.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $227.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.00.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.