Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,113 Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,113 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,209,617,000 after acquiring an additional 648,317 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.6% during 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. increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 39.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,007,599 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $465,817,000 after acquiring an additional 858,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,999,579 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $309,695,000 after acquiring an additional 12,237 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FANG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Bank Of America (Bofa) reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $147.00 to $129.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.68.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock traded up $2.69 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $204.19. 1,791,237 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,745,825. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.41 and a 12-month high of $211.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $36.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $196.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.08.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.21. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 36.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total value of $514,536.25. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,089.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Diamondback Energy news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total value of $514,536.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,089.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

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.