Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Stake Lifted by California Public Employees Retirement System

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System increased its Diamondback Energy stake by 9.8% in Q1, adding 31,514 shares and bringing its holdings to 353,809 shares worth about $69.98 million.
• Diamondback reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.23 beating estimates and revenue of $4.24 billion topping forecasts; revenue also rose 4.7% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share from $1.05, while analysts remain broadly bullish with a consensus Buy rating and a target price of $219.53.

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 9.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 353,809 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,514 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.13% of Diamondback Energy worth $69,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 274 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,719 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $2,822,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 14,330 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $2,161,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.1% in the first 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 buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,725 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG stock opened at $195.54 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.01. The company has a market cap of $55.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 227.37 and a beta of 0.42. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $134.30 and a 12-month high of $214.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.54 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FANG shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $229.00 to $216.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $219.53.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.90, for a total transaction of $1,406,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 85,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,228,179.50. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of Diamondback Energy 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 sale, the director owned 851,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders sold 113,691 shares of company stock valued at $21,622,752. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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