21,510 Shares in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Bought by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management purchased 21,510 shares of Diamondback Energy in the second quarter, worth approximately $3.78 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.01% of FANG’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.21, despite some firms lowering their targets.
• Diamondback exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $6.48 in EPS and $5.56 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 51.2% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share, though insiders sold about $24.7 million of stock over the past three months.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 21,510 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $3,781,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,303,362,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,733,538 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $821,649,000 after purchasing an additional 163,548 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,621,120 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $844,073,000 after purchasing an additional 14,625 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,159,365 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $775,607,000 after purchasing an additional 532,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,332,885 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $651,363,000 after purchasing an additional 534,073 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on FANG. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $221.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $222.21.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $15,593,458.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 851,530 shares in the company, valued at $159,338,293.60. This trade represents a 8.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,640,370.50. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 129,167 shares of company stock valued at $24,714,309 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $205.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $57.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.08 and a beta of 0.43. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $192.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.74. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.30 and a twelve month high of $216.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 20.13 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.77%.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc NASDAQ: FANG is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback's activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.

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