Patten Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Patten Group Inc. lowered its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,034 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 430 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 4.0% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 36,177 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $5,784,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 6.3% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,853 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $9,409,000 after buying an additional 3,467 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 50.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,149 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after buying an additional 2,397 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $327,000. Finally, Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $2,631,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $141.53 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $40.97 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $142.32 and a 200 day moving average of $140.49. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.00 and a 52 week high of $186.07.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 27.25% and a return on equity of 9.48%. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 48.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FANG has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Melius started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $213.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.91.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total transaction of $2,913,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 102,145 shares in the company, valued at $14,586,306. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.