SG Americas Securities LLC Increases Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 17.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,450 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,407 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $8,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Barden Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,380 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 19,830 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $3,249,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,516 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,923 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, JBR Co Financial Management Inc lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 2,023 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FANG shares. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $194.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a "reduce" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.09.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:FANG traded up $5.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $154.71. 3,608,708 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,202,534. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.00 and a twelve month high of $214.50. The firm has a market cap of $45.20 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. The stock's 50-day moving average is $136.28 and its 200-day moving average is $152.81.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.87. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.50 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 81.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.46%.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van't sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total value of $1,426,900.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 120,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,214,835.05. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

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.