Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Sold by L & S Advisors Inc

L & S Advisors Inc reduced its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,950 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 13,938 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $2,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,266 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,233,000 after buying an additional 2,432 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $401,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $971,000. Natixis acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $195,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 110.0% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 5,060 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 2,650 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FANG shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $185.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.00.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. This represents a 92.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $182.85 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.00. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $145.70 and a one year high of $214.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 1.97%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

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.