Earnest Partners LLC Purchases 202,752 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 77.8%, now owning approximately $74.09 million worth of stock.
• Multiple institutional investors have also raised their stakes in Diamondback Energy, contributing to a total of 90.01% institutional ownership of the company's stock.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for Diamondback Energy, with an average price target of $193.33 per share.

Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 77.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 463,436 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after buying an additional 202,752 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 0.16% of Diamondback Energy worth $74,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 27,390 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $4,487,000 after purchasing an additional 2,066 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 184,408 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $30,211,000 after buying an additional 12,671 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,092,919 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $342,883,000 after buying an additional 219,173 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 44,751 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 573.0% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 13,459 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $2,205,000 after acquiring an additional 11,459 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total value of $2,913,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 102,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,586,306. The trade was a 16.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:FANG traded down $0.41 on Friday, reaching $148.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,214,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,050,694. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $43.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 1.09. The business's 50-day moving average price is $142.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.30. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.00 and a 1-year high of $200.47.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 27.25% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The company's revenue was up 48.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.52 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FANG shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $163.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $213.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, May 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $221.00 to $212.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.33.

About Diamondback Energy

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.