Alliancebernstein L.P. Increases Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 246,356 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,377 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.08% of Diamondback Energy worth $39,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 776 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 67,484 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $11,063,000 after buying an additional 2,140 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 412.1% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,799 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 6,276 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 52.8% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 80,957 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $13,265,000 after purchasing an additional 27,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total transaction of $2,913,120.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 102,145 shares in the company, valued at $14,586,306. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease 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. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on FANG. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $176.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $228.00 to $222.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $213.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $163.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $193.17.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG traded up $3.35 on Wednesday, hitting $139.64. 2,004,632 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,630,627. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $142.80 and a 200-day moving average of $142.44. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $200.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 27.25% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 48.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.43%.

Diamondback Energy Profile

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.