Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 442,643 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 76,440 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $76,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% in the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.0% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,907 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.3% in the second quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 1,859 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.8% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,821 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,566,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,817 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $182.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $227.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now 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. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $154.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.66. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $147.93 and a 12-month high of $214.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.88.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

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.