AIA Group Ltd Invests $1.36 Million in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 8,774 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,361,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,209,617,000 after acquiring an additional 648,317 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,656,848 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,575,653,000 after purchasing an additional 112,297 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,919,925 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $528,736,000 after purchasing an additional 179,405 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,572,083 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $488,590,000 after purchasing an additional 85,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,320,567 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $514,289,000 after purchasing an additional 206,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ FANG opened at $202.13 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.41 and a 1-year high of $211.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $188.92 and a 200-day moving average of $167.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $36.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.93.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 37.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $3.08 per share. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $12.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.10%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 20.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,532,416. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,322,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,532,416. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096 in the last 90 days. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Mizuho upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Bank Of America (Bofa) reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $147.00 to $129.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.95.

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.