Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Has $295,000 Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lessened its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,800 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 212 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FANG. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $298,327,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1,153.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,132,918 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $185,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,505 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,817,554 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $461,600,000 after acquiring an additional 658,644 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $87,924,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,163,070 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $682,036,000 after acquiring an additional 502,916 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ FANG opened at $150.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.60, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.85. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.09 and a twelve month 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.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FANG shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $167.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started 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 for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.