Mendota Financial Group LLC Sells 168 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Mendota Financial Group LLC lessened its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 22.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 579 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 168 shares during the period. Mendota Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $95,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 146,870 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $28,008,000 after acquiring an additional 47,951 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 368.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,784 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,687,000 after buying an additional 7,694 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $1,053,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,618,560 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $793,611,000 after purchasing an additional 266,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 42,678 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,358,000 after purchasing an additional 6,672 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $177.61 on Tuesday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.93 and a fifty-two week high of $214.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $170.72 and a 200-day moving average of $183.62.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. This trade represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FANG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Johnson Rice cut Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.08.

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.