Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Position Raised by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its Diamondback Energy position by 126.3% in the third quarter, adding 349,801 shares for a total of 626,847 shares valued at approximately $115.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.01% of the company.
• Diamondback reported quarterly earnings of $6.48 per share, beating estimates of $6.08, while revenue rose 51.2% year over year to $5.56 billion. The company also maintains a $1.10 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 2.2% yield.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with the stock receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $226.71, versus its reported trading price of $203.95.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 126.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 626,847 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 349,801 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.22% of Diamondback Energy worth $115,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 294 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 2.9% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,251 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 4,979 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $875,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV now owns 3,584 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 4.3%

FANG opened at $203.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $57.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.55. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.03 and a 12 month high of $216.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $197.24 and a 200 day moving average of $194.22.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.08 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.89 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 8.58%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 21.07 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FANG. Capital One Financial increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $272.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $215.00 target price (up from $205.00) on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Sunday, October 11th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $255.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $226.71.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.74, for a total value of $6,124,605.42. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 759,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $139,617,411.36. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Travis D. Stice sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.31, for a total transaction of $15,323,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 49,727 shares in the company, valued at $10,159,723.37. This represents a 60.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 141,666 shares of company stock worth $28,061,456. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company headquartered in Midland, Texas. The company focuses primarily on the acquisition, development, exploration and production of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

Diamondback's operations are concentrated in the Midland and Delaware sub-basins, where it develops properties using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Its production includes crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

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