EULAV Asset Management Purchases 10,000 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

EULAV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 17.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,000 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. EULAV Asset Management's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $10,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 95.7% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 180 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 65.0% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 119.8% in the first quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 200 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van't sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total value of $1,426,900.00. Following the transaction, the president owned 120,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,214,835.05. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on FANG. Evercore ISI began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.13.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 4.4%

Shares of FANG traded up $6.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $143.95. 588,465 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,274,341. The stock has a market cap of $42.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's 50-day moving average is $140.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.86. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.00 and a 12 month high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.87. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.58 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 30.84%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 81.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.50 earnings per share. Research 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, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.46%.

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.