Affinity Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 4,426 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Affinity Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 353.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,680 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,426 shares during the period. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 38.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,706,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,381,488 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 235.6% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $541,844,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,900 shares during the last quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth $87,940,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 16.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $603,038,000 after acquiring an additional 415,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 280.8% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 545,202 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $109,144,000 after acquiring an additional 402,026 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $175.81 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.70 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $183.29 and its 200 day moving average is $193.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 3.66 and a quick ratio of 3.64.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 37.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $2.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FANG shares. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.09.

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.