Barings LLC Invests $7.54 Million in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Barings LLC initiated a new position in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter, buying 38,099 shares worth about $7.54 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and asset managers actively adding to FANG; the article notes that 90.01% of shares are held by institutions and hedge funds.
• Diamondback Energy has seen mixed insider activity and generally positive analyst sentiment: insiders sold shares in recent months, while analysts maintain a Buy consensus with a price target of about $219.53.

Barings LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 38,099 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $7,536,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FANG. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,239,837 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $487,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,010 shares in the last quarter. EnCap Energy Capital Fund XII L.P. purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $169,342,000. Smead Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $144,775,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,198,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 14.1% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 534,073 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,640,370.50. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $15,593,458.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 851,530 shares in the company, valued at $159,338,293.60. This represents a 8.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,691 shares of company stock worth $21,622,752. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on FANG shares. Mizuho raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $212.00 target price on Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $249.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $219.53.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG opened at $190.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $53.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 221.08 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $191.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.67. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.30 and a 1-year high of $214.51.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.Diamondback Energy's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a $1.10 dividend. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 511.63%.

About Diamondback Energy

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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