S&CO Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• S&CO Inc. initiated a new position in Diamondback Energy, buying 31,300 shares valued at about $4.7 million in the fourth quarter.
• Several analysts turned more bullish on FANG, with firms like Goldman Sachs and Mizuho raising price targets and the stock now carrying a consensus Buy rating and average target price of $218.25.
• Diamondback reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, topping EPS and revenue estimates, and also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share from $1.05.

S&CO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 31,300 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $4,705,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 4,479 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 37,874 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $5,694,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 236.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 88,478 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $13,301,000 after purchasing an additional 62,180 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 46,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $6,954,000 after buying an additional 6,481 shares during the period. Finally, Simmons Bank boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 10,154 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $1,526,000 after buying an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FANG has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $187.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Diamondback Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $218.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total value of $1,130,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $844,561.40. This represents a 57.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jere W. Thompson III sold 750 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.47, for a total value of $136,852.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,975 shares in the company, valued at $3,644,838.25. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 169,321 shares of company stock worth $31,055,475. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $203.56 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $132.20 and a one year high of $214.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $57.26 billion, a PE ratio of 236.70 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $191.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.76.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.54 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. 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. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 511.63%.

Diamondback Energy 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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