275,000 Shares in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Acquired by Yaupon Capital Management LP

Yaupon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 275,000 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,410,000. Diamondback Energy makes up about 2.6% of Yaupon Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Yaupon Capital Management LP owned 0.09% of Diamondback Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth about $213,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,313 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,389 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after buying an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 602.0% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 46,193 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $9,247,000 after buying an additional 39,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 32.2% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 501 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $185.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 92.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $166.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $181.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.28. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.52 and a 52-week high of $214.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $48.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.88.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.61%.

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.