Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Buys 8,880 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management raised its stake in Diamondback by 38.9%, buying 8,880 shares to hold 31,709 shares valued at about $4.77 million.
• Diamondback beat quarterly expectations with EPS $4.23 vs $3.74 and revenue $4.24B vs $3.83B, and announced a higher quarterly dividend of $1.10 (annualized $4.40, 2.3% yield) despite a very high payout ratio ~488%.
• Analysts are generally positive—consensus rating "Buy" with a mean target of $215.70—even as insiders have sold significant stock (156,464 shares worth ~$28.6M in the last 90 days).

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 38.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,709 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,880 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $4,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 233.9% in the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 12,673 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 8,877 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 9.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 117,733 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $16,848,000 after acquiring an additional 10,289 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at $472,000. WoodTrust Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at $1,624,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 9.7% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,385,428 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $198,255,000 after acquiring an additional 122,921 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on FANG shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $242.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $242.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.70.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 2.5%

FANG opened at $190.30 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.48 and a fifty-two week high of $214.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 221.28 and a beta of 0.46. The company's 50 day moving average price is $188.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $165.63.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.74 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.86 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $1.10 dividend. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 488.37%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 20,899 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $3,761,820.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 60,493 shares in the company, valued at $10,888,740. The trade was a 25.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 63,957 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.16, for a total transaction of $11,586,450.12. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 305,314 shares in the company, valued at $55,310,684.24. The trade was a 17.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 156,464 shares of company stock worth $28,568,431 over the last ninety days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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