Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Purchases New Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Eurizon Capital SGR opened a new position in Diamondback Energy, buying 25,240 shares worth about $3.79 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding about 90.01% of Diamondback Energy shares; several other firms also increased their stakes recently.
• Analysts are generally constructive on FANG, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $223.26, while the company also recently beat earnings expectations and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 25,240 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $3,794,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 37.5% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,726 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the second quarter worth about $2,301,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 13.5% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 51,104 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $7,022,000 after buying an additional 6,069 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 8.5% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 52,355 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $7,194,000 after buying an additional 4,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 37.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 154,582 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $21,239,000 after buying an additional 41,866 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on FANG shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $231.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $223.26.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, CFO Jere W. Thompson III sold 750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.47, for a total transaction of $136,852.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,644,838.25. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.20, for a total transaction of $1,486,544.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 942,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $178,362,813.20. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 174,321 shares of company stock valued at $32,090,475 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $199.03 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $195.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $172.34. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.30 and a 52 week high of $214.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.99 billion, a PE ratio of 231.43 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 511.63%.

About Diamondback Energy

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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