Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Stake Cut by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 66.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,976 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 54,224 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $4,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,136,645 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $1,496,859,000 after buying an additional 928,429 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,169,742 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $849,202,000 after purchasing an additional 571,820 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,165 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $769,706,000 after purchasing an additional 91,605 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,163,070 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $682,036,000 after purchasing an additional 502,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $638,050,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van't sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total transaction of $1,426,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 120,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,214,835.05. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FANG traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $135.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,766,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,147,484. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.00 and a 52 week high of $214.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.03.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.87. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. Diamondback Energy's revenue was up 81.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.50 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FANG shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $207.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a "reduce" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $193.09.

Diamondback Energy Company 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.