Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Sold by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV reduced its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 32.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,650 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 5,172 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,439 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 31,344 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $5,135,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 573.0% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 13,459 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,459 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 145,000 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $23,755,000 after acquiring an additional 33,848 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 44,751 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $129.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $38.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $114.00 and a one year high of $214.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.03.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.87. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 81.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FANG has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Williams Trading set a $190.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, May 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $195.57.

Diamondback Energy 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.