ING Groep NV Grows Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• ING Groep NV sharply increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 1,980.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 39,614 shares valued at about $5.96 million.
• Diamondback Energy beat first-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $4.23 EPS versus $3.74 expected and $4.24 billion in revenue versus $3.83 billion forecast.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share from $1.05, lifting the annualized payout to $4.40 and the dividend yield to 2.2%.

ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 1,980.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,614 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,710 shares during the period. ING Groep NV's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $5,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FANG. Smead Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $144,775,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 38.0% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,798,812 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $543,610,000 after buying an additional 1,046,398 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,159,365 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $775,607,000 after buying an additional 532,756 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 2,637.8% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 456,686 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $65,352,000 after buying an additional 440,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1,127.8% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 369,568 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $52,885,000 after buying an additional 339,468 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG opened at $198.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $55.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 230.47 and a beta of 0.42. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.30 and a 1-year high of $214.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.74 by $0.49. The business 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 company's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 511.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.90, for a total value of $1,406,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 85,755 shares in the company, valued at $17,228,179.50. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 20,899 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $3,761,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 60,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,888,740. The trade was a 25.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 78,464 shares of company stock valued at $14,946,406. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $242.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $223.26.

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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