GeoSphere Capital Management LLC Buys New Shares in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

GeoSphere Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 35,000 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,734,000. Diamondback Energy comprises approximately 2.7% of GeoSphere Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wintrust Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 940.0% during the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction 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 represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ FANG opened at $137.89 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.00 and a fifty-two week high of $214.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $141.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.55 billion, a PE ratio of 7.89, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.87. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.58 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 81.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 25.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FANG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $194.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “reduce” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.57.

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.