Argent Trust Co Sells 670 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Argent Trust Co trimmed its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,882 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 670 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $298,327,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1,153.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,132,918 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $185,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,505 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,817,554 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $461,600,000 after acquiring an additional 658,644 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,169,742 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $849,202,000 after acquiring an additional 571,820 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 13.7% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 502,916 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ FANG opened at $123.16 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.00 and a 52-week high of $214.50. The stock has a market cap of $36.22 billion, a PE ratio of 7.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $150.81 and a 200-day moving average of $166.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45.

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

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,802.30. The trade was 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 this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FANG. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $206.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.25.

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.