Rafferty Asset Management LLC Acquires 4,959 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 158,969 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 4,959 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $22,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 106.3% during the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Estabrook Capital Management bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FANG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $194.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $173.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.86.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total value of $162,880,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at $16,074,094,093.76. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 377,911 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.61, for a total value of $52,382,243.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,044,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,828,599.04. This represents a 26.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 1,438,516 shares of company stock worth $225,026,921 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 4.3%

NASDAQ FANG opened at $174.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.80. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.00 and a twelve month high of $177.25. The company has a market capitalization of $49.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.03 and a beta of 0.63.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.30%.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.