Gabelli Funds LLC Acquires 9,785 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 12.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,485 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,785 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $12,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,325,287 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,204,894,000 after buying an additional 388,512 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,569,990 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $766,914,000 after buying an additional 151,150 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,441,649 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $746,526,000 after acquiring an additional 142,649 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,642,218 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $637,841,000 after acquiring an additional 384,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 27.3% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,950,160 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $311,792,000 after acquiring an additional 418,431 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 377,911 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.61, for a total value of $52,382,243.71. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,044,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,828,599.04. The trade was a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $173.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $160.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $221.00 to $212.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $213.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.95.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $157.52 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $146.19 and its 200 day moving average is $143.71. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.00 and a 1-year high of $180.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $45.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.63.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.14. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 27.32% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $3.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 48.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.80%.

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.