Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $6.90 Million Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 453.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,160 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 35,361 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $6,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FANG. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 95.7% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 180 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 65.0% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 119.8% during the first quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 200 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $207.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.59.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $146.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $142.90 and its 200 day moving average is $147.15. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.00 and a 12 month high of $202.87.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.87. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.58 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 30.84% and a return on equity of 11.22%. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 81.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.46%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the president directly owned 120,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,214,835.05. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.