Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $185.61 Million Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 1,153.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,132,918 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,042,505 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $185,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 67.1% in the second 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 during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,907 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,821 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,817 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,852 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $177.68 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.46. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.93 and a 12 month high of $214.50. The company has a market cap of $51.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.88. 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 issued its quarterly 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). The firm 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.51 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on FANG. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.08.

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.