Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 7,047 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,215,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% in the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,907 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.3% in the second quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 1,859 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.8% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,821 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.4% during the third quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,817 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FANG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $215.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Johnson Rice cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.17.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the business’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 transaction of $208,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ FANG opened at $163.34 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.93 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $179.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.04. The company has a market cap of $47.69 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.28 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.