Smith Group Asset Management LLC Takes $1.50 Million Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 9,179 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,504,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,858,555 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,044,415,000 after purchasing an additional 149,871 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,618,560 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $793,611,000 after buying an additional 266,299 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 9.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,704,520 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $466,259,000 after buying an additional 230,689 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,158,910 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $372,196,000 after buying an additional 439,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,135,230 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $195,714,000 after acquiring an additional 46,109 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ FANG opened at $169.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $49.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.88. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.93 and a 52-week high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $170.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.72.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FANG has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp lowered 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $227.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $207.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.00.

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.