Fred Alger Management LLC Trims Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. by 89.5%, leaving it with only 2,554 shares worth $408,000 after selling 21,720 shares in the first quarter.
• Other investors, including Boston Partners and Wellington Management Group, increased their holdings, highlighting a strong interest in Diamondback Energy among institutional investors, who now own 90.01% of the company's stock.
• Diamondback Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.9% and a payout ratio of 28.43% as it continues to show strong revenue growth despite a slight earnings miss.

Fred Alger Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 89.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,554 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 21,720 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $408,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,418,840 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $861,961,000 after buying an additional 249,098 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,257,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $680,649,000 after acquiring an additional 94,177 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102,785 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $655,953,000 after acquiring an additional 208,200 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,932,484 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $468,846,000 after acquiring an additional 114,930 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FANG has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $176.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $163.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $213.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Two 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $193.17.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG opened at $139.64 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $142.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.44. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $200.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.05). The company 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 48.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.43%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total transaction of $2,913,120.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 102,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,586,306. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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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