Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Buys 1,031 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,723 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $6,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 146,870 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $28,008,000 after acquiring an additional 47,951 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 368.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,784 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 7,694 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth $1,053,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 6.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,618,560 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $793,611,000 after purchasing an additional 266,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 18.5% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 42,678 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,358,000 after purchasing an additional 6,672 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $180.18 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $170.60 and its 200 day moving average is $183.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $52.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.88. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.93 and a 52-week high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FANG. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $212.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.17.

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.