NorthRock Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• NorthRock Partners LLC increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 181.6%, owning 3,551 shares valued at $488,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several other institutional investors, including Boston Partners and Wellington Management, have also increased their positions in Diamondback Energy, raising hedge fund ownership of the stock to 90.01%.
• Analysts have varied views on Diamondback Energy, with price targets ranging from $176 to $228, and a consensus rating of "Buy" alongside a 52-week price range between $114.00 and $186.74.

NorthRock Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 181.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,551 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,290 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $488,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,418,840 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $861,961,000 after purchasing an additional 249,098 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.3% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 94,177 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.1% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 114,930 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 27.3% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,950,160 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $311,792,000 after purchasing an additional 418,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $230,039,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total value of $2,913,120.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 102,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,586,306. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on FANG. Barclays dropped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $178.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Diamondback Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $176.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $228.00 to $222.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $213.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $192.23.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ FANG opened at $141.94 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.00 and a fifty-two week high of $186.74. The stock's fifty day moving average is $142.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.05). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 27.25% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 48.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is 28.43%.

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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