Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Acquired by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 181,642 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,334 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $29,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 17.5% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 171,737 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $29,607,000 after buying an additional 25,603 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 14,185 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 9,898 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 39.2% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 7,194 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 5.3% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 32,617 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $5,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FANG shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price objective on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reduced their price target on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.33.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG opened at $157.54 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.72. The firm has a market cap of $45.60 billion, a PE ratio of 9.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.09 and a 12-month high of $214.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.32%.

Diamondback Energy 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.