Mount Lucas Management LP Decreases Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Mount Lucas Management LP trimmed its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,671 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 6,916 shares during the period. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 7.2% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 809 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% in the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,907 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,975 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $3,999,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 16.1% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 412 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of FANG opened at $176.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.70 and a 1-year high of $214.50. The stock has a market cap of $51.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $181.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.36.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.78 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 92.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FANG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $240.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.64.

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.