Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Position Trimmed by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 320,957 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 2,621 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $48,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 245.1% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 264.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 186 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 20,899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $3,761,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 60,493 shares in the company, valued at $10,888,740. The trade was a 25.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total value of $1,130,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $844,561.40. This trade represents a 57.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 78,464 shares of company stock valued at $14,946,406 in the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on FANG. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $242.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.26.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 2.9%

FANG opened at $198.20 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $195.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.25. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.30 and a twelve month high of $214.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $55.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 230.47 and a beta of 0.42.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 511.63%.

Diamondback Energy 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.