Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,136 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,705 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $6,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SpiderRock Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 74.2% during the third quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830 shares in the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after buying an additional 829 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,830 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 8,400 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,448,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at about $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $185.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “sector outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $215.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $181.88 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.70 and a 1-year high of $214.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 3.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $181.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.33.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 17.1 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

Diamondback Energy Company 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.