Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Trims Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 8.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,282 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 470 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 13.6% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,330 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 105.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 560 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 27.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,266 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after buying an additional 2,432 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth $40,533,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 337.8% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 7,211 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 5,564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $240.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,872. This trade represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $176.60 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $181.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.33. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.70 and a 52-week high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

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.