SCS Capital Management LLC Acquires 19,875 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management boosted its Diamondback Energy stake by 276.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 19,875 additional shares and bringing its total to 27,055 shares worth about $4.07 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their holdings, and institutional ownership now stands at 90.01% of Diamondback Energy’s stock.
• Diamondback reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.23 beating estimates and revenue of $4.24 billion topping forecasts; the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share.

SCS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 276.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,055 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after buying an additional 19,875 shares during the quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $4,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FANG. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $472,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 256,638 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $36,725,000 after buying an additional 5,936 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 24.6% during the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,312,413 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $187,806,000 after buying an additional 258,738 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 354,481 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $50,726,000 after buying an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 9.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,355,480 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $337,078,000 after buying an additional 198,919 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 4,484 shares of the company's stock, valued at $844,561.40. The trade was a 57.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.27, for a total value of $1,439,952.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 974,149 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $178,532,287.23. This trade represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 174,321 shares of company stock worth $32,090,475. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of FANG stock opened at $199.03 on Tuesday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.30 and a 1-year high of $214.51. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $195.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $55.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 231.43 and a beta of 0.42.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.54 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $1.10 dividend. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is presently 511.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Diamondback Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $202.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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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