Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Reduces Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lessened its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,929 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 2,227 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $2,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Demars Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $638,050,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $298,327,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 1,153.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,132,918 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $185,606,000 after buying an additional 1,042,505 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 11.3% in 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 buying an additional 928,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,817,554 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $461,600,000 after acquiring an additional 658,644 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Diamondback Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $202.00 to $170.00 in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $199.00.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru bought 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG traded down $4.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $132.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,976,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,098,910. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.00 and a 52-week high of $214.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $144.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The business had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.55 billion. On average, analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.32%.

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.