Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $6.90 Million Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 453.4%, acquiring 35,361 additional shares for a total holding valued at approximately $6.9 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds now own 90.01% of Diamondback Energy's stock, reflecting significant interest from the investment community.
• Diamondback Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.7% with a payout ratio of 24.46%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 453.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,160 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after buying an additional 35,361 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $6,900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 231,979 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $38,005,000 after buying an additional 10,895 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 22,987 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $3,766,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $8,971,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 231,874 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $37,988,000 after acquiring an additional 26,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 87.5% during the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 37,500 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $6,144,000 after acquiring an additional 17,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $192.00 to $188.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $191.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van't sold 10,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total transaction of $1,426,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 120,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,214,835.05. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 1.7%

FANG opened at $146.14 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.00 and a 1-year high of $202.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $42.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $142.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.15.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.87. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 30.84% and a return on equity of 11.22%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.50 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 81.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is 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.

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