Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Stake Lifted by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 727,302 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,533 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $104,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 388,512 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.8% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,569,990 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $766,914,000 after purchasing an additional 151,150 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,441,649 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $746,526,000 after purchasing an additional 142,649 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 9.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,642,218 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $637,841,000 after buying an additional 384,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 9.2% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,952,276 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $268,243,000 after buying an additional 164,293 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $174.08 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.00 and a 52 week high of $177.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $49.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.03 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $158.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.73.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total transaction of $162,880,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,074,094,093.76. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 377,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.61, for a total value of $52,382,243.71. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,044,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,828,599.04. This represents a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 1,438,516 shares of company stock worth $225,026,921 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group set a $195.00 target price on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen raised shares of Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $187.86.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.