Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Sold by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 18,725 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 8,265 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $3,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 40.6% during the third quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,227 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,763,000 after acquiring an additional 2,952 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth $2,522,000. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 111.2% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 6,088 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,050,000 after buying an additional 3,206 shares during the period. Yaupon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth $47,410,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth $87,924,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on FANG. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $185.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Johnson Rice lowered Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.17.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $163.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.69 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $179.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.97. 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 (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The business’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.28 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

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

Diamondback Energy Company 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.