Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Increases Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 219,899 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 8,840 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned about 0.12% of Diamondback Energy worth $37,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 178.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 30,532 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $6,112,000 after acquiring an additional 19,552 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 33.5% in the third quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 11,978 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2,768.9% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,332 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $883,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth $87,940,000. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $5,148,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $176.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.70 and a twelve month high of $214.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.14, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $183.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.27.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 37.51%. The firm’s revenue was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $2.34 per share. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a yield of 1.9%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 18.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FANG shares. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $243.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.09.

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.