Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Boosts Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,061 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. National Pension Service raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 319,997 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $52,425,000 after purchasing an additional 40,103 shares in the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $97,000. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 35,732 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $5,854,000 after buying an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,163,070 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $682,036,000 after buying an additional 502,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coyle Financial Counsel LLC raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 9,102 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,491,000 after acquiring an additional 3,180 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of FANG stock opened at $155.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $151.00 and a fifty-two week high of $214.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.63.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.55 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FANG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $227.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.09.

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.