Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Position Lifted by Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 45.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,789 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,350 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FANG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,136,645 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,496,859,000 after purchasing an additional 928,429 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,169,742 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $849,202,000 after purchasing an additional 571,820 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,165 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $769,706,000 after buying an additional 91,605 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,163,070 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $682,036,000 after acquiring an additional 502,916 shares during the period. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $638,050,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $138.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.92, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.00 and a 52-week high of $214.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $140.95 and its 200 day moving average is $157.48.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.87. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 81.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 24.46%.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total transaction of $1,426,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 120,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,214,835.05. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FANG. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $194.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $202.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $194.09.

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.