Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Sold by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP decreased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 82.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,332 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 575,455 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $19,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FANG. Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 247.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 940.0% during the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 276 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 5.7 %

NASDAQ FANG opened at $137.64 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $114.00 and a 52 week high of $214.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.81. The firm has a market cap of $40.48 billion, a PE ratio of 7.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.13.

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.