Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 28,452 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 25.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,582 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 28,452 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $13,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 247.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 940.0% during the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $151.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.86. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $165.36 and its 200 day moving average is $175.93. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.69 and a 12 month high of $214.50.

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

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 20.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.09.

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.