Kovack Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Kovack Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,959 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 498 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 6.0% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,813 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $9,450,000 after purchasing an additional 3,127 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 21.1% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,368 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 111.1% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,263 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 29.1% during the third quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 6,207 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 2.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,720 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $986,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $152.43 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $151.00 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.51 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The business had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 25.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FANG has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.09.

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.