Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 200,936 Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management opened a new position in Diamondback Energy, buying 200,936 shares worth about $30.2 million in the fourth quarter.
• Several insiders sold shares recently, including CAO Teresa L. Dick and Director Steven E. West, with total insider selling over the past 90 days reaching 78,464 shares valued at about $14.9 million.
• Analysts remain generally positive on FANG, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $223.26; the company also beat quarterly earnings expectations and raised its dividend to $1.10 per share.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 200,936 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $30,207,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.07% of Diamondback Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 245.1% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 264.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 186 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.90, for a total transaction of $1,406,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 85,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,228,179.50. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total transaction of $1,130,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,484 shares of the company's stock, valued at $844,561.40. The trade was a 57.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 78,464 shares of company stock valued at $14,946,406 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on FANG shares. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Benchmark lowered shares of Diamondback Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $187.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $223.26.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG opened at $198.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $134.30 and a one year high of $214.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.76 billion, a PE ratio of 230.47 and a beta of 0.42.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.54 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 511.63%.

Diamondback Energy 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.