California Public Employees Retirement System Has $50.75 Million Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 327,266 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 11,978 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $50,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,717 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 145.2% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 11,993 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 7,102 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 613.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,401 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,388,000 after purchasing an additional 13,243 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 143.0% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 981,284 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $152,177,000 after purchasing an additional 577,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,494,159 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $541,175,000 after purchasing an additional 89,663 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $207.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $192.69 and its 200 day moving average is $169.13. The firm has a market cap of $36.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 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. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.61 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 37.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.83 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 issued a $3.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $12.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.95%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FANG shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Raymond James reduced their price target on Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 owns 78,218 shares in the company, valued at $15,031,153.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total value of $1,153,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total value of $514,536.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,632,089.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 57,675 shares of company stock worth $11,311,096. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

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.