Essex Financial Services Inc. Grows Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 48.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,924 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,190 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $2,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,209,617,000 after acquiring an additional 648,317 shares in the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 89,663 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,320,567 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $514,289,000 after acquiring an additional 206,189 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,007,599 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $465,817,000 after acquiring an additional 858,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,999,579 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $309,695,000 after acquiring an additional 12,237 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of FANG opened at $196.01 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $34.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 1.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $194.57 and a 200 day moving average of $170.39. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.41 and a 52-week high of $211.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.69% and a net margin of 36.71%. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.94 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,532,416. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $1,632,089.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,532,416. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096 over the last quarter. 0.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FANG shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $214.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upgraded Diamondback Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.53.

About Diamondback Energy

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.