Advisory Services Network LLC Buys 2,386 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Advisory Services Network LLC grew its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 20.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,273 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 2,386 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $2,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FANG. Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 247.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc boosted its position 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 62.4% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 276 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG opened at $129.01 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $214.50. The company has a market cap of $37.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.28.

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

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FANG. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.17.

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.