Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 1,274 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,695 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,274 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $4,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 39.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,007,599 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $465,817,000 after purchasing an additional 858,446 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $128,720,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,209,617,000 after purchasing an additional 648,317 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 143.0% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 981,284 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $152,177,000 after purchasing an additional 577,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $73,608,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total value of $1,153,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,031,153.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total value of $1,153,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,031,153.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,675 shares of company stock worth $11,311,096 over the last quarter. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FANG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $129.00 to $170.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $195.95.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $203.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $36.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $187.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.74. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $123.41 and a one year high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.47 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $3.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $12.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.04%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.76%.

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.