Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 57.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,956 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 31,866 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $17,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 245.1% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 264.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 186 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,640,370.50. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.54, for a total transaction of $1,002,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,392 shares in the company, valued at $9,303,451.68. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 121,548 shares of company stock valued at $23,146,460 in the last ninety days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FANG shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $249.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.37.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $179.91 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.30 and a 12 month high of $214.51. The stock has a market cap of $50.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 209.20 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $194.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.74 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 511.63%.

About Diamondback Energy

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.