Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors trimmed its Diamondback Energy stake by 2.4% in the first quarter, though it still held 2.29 million shares worth about $452.9 million.
• Diamondback has seen mixed sentiment from Wall Street: several analysts maintained or raised price targets, but Morgan Stanley cut its target to $216. The stock still carries a consensus Buy rating with an average target of $218.26.
• The company reported better-than-expected earnings of $4.23 per share and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share, while insiders recently sold shares and the stock traded near $195.38.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,289,876 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 56,013 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.81% of Diamondback Energy worth $452,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 139,308 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $20,942,000 after buying an additional 21,575 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,441,622 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $216,719,000 after buying an additional 56,194 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,472,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 338,577 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $50,890,000 after acquiring an additional 47,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QSM Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. QSM Asset Management Ltd now owns 61,000 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $9,170,000 after acquiring an additional 30,500 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FANG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Diamondback Energy from $229.00 to $216.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered Diamondback Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Roth Capital set a $212.00 price objective on Diamondback Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Susquehanna upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $231.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $249.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $218.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,640,370.50. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.54, for a total transaction of $1,002,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,303,451.68. The trade was a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 113,691 shares of company stock worth $21,622,752. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $195.38 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business's 50 day moving average is $191.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.32. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.30 and a 52 week high of $214.51. The company has a market cap of $54.96 billion, a PE ratio of 227.19 and a beta of 0.42.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.54 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

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

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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