Van ECK Associates Corp Reduces Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 220,714 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 11,892 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $34,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,209,617,000 after purchasing an additional 648,317 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,494,159 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $541,175,000 after acquiring an additional 89,663 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,320,567 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $514,289,000 after acquiring an additional 206,189 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,007,599 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $465,817,000 after purchasing an additional 858,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,999,579 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $309,695,000 after purchasing an additional 12,237 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,523 shares in the company, valued at $18,532,416. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,532,416. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,675 shares of company stock worth $11,311,096 over the last quarter. 0.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ FANG opened at $201.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.77. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $123.41 and a one year high of $211.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $194.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.21.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.23 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.83 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FANG shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $214.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.53.

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.