ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 133,887 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC increased its Diamondback Energy stake by 37.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 133,887 more shares and bringing its holdings to 487,254 shares valued at about $73.2 million.
• Diamondback Energy reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, with EPS of $4.23 versus the $3.74 estimate and revenue of $4.24 billion, up 4.7% from a year earlier.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share from $1.05, while analysts currently hold a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $218.25.

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 37.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 487,254 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 133,887 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Diamondback Energy worth $73,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 98,430 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $14,797,000 after acquiring an additional 10,865 shares during the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $983,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,622 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $5,355,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 24,563 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $3,693,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $207.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.56. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.20 and a fifty-two week high of $214.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $192.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.83. The company has a market capitalization of $58.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 241.60 and a beta of 0.46.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.54 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is currently 511.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FANG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark downgraded Diamondback Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $178.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $242.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $218.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.27, for a total transaction of $1,439,952.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 974,149 shares in the company, valued at $178,532,287.23. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $950,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 107,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,473,450. This represents a 4.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 169,321 shares of company stock valued at $31,055,475. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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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