Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Purchased by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,678 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $5,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.5% during the first quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.8% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,612 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 20.8% during the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 424 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 9.4% during the first quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 859 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.14, for a total value of $1,182,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 69,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,736,123.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Diamondback Energy news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,241.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.14, for a total transaction of $1,182,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,736,123.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on FANG shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $255.00 to $245.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $154.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $243.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.65.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $200.76. 775,693 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,125,121. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $197.98 and its 200 day moving average is $188.12. The stock has a market cap of $35.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.92. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.71 and a 12 month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.63 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

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.