Equitable Trust Co. Increases Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Equitable Trust Co. has increased its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 47.9%, owning 9,957 shares worth approximately $1.37 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• The stock has attracted significant interest from institutional investors, with 90.01% of the shares currently owned by them.
• Analysts have mixed views on Diamondback Energy, with price targets ranging from $171 to $211, indicating a generally positive outlook despite recent earnings missing expectations.

Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 47.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,957 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,227 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $230,039,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $77,622,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,950,160 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $311,792,000 after purchasing an additional 418,431 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 50.6% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,135,759 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $181,585,000 after purchasing an additional 381,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,418,840 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $861,961,000 after purchasing an additional 249,098 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the business's 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $192.00 to $188.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $163.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $178.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.23.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $141.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $142.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.79. The stock has a market cap of $41.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.04. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.00 and a 1 year high of $186.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 27.25%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 48.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is currently 28.43%.

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.

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