ING Groep NV Acquires 14,486 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 399.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,111 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,486 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $3,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,706,076,000 after buying an additional 2,381,488 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $603,038,000 after purchasing an additional 415,902 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 235.6% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $541,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,900 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 10.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,690,181 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $538,547,000 after purchasing an additional 247,065 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 7.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,473,831 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $495,236,000 after purchasing an additional 164,732 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $205.00 to $215.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $185.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.64.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG opened at $176.60 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.70 and a 52 week high of $214.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $51.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $181.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.43.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

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.