Vest Financial LLC Takes $7.54 Million Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Vest Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 47,138 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $7,536,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.4% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,675 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,238 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 21,040 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $3,447,000 after purchasing an additional 4,529 shares during the period. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 20,388 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $3,303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990 shares during the period. Tower Bridge Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 8,828 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898 shares during the period. Finally, Boothe Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Boothe Investment Group Inc. now owns 20,097 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $3,292,000 after purchasing an additional 5,022 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup upgraded Diamondback Energy from a "reduce" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $207.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $193.09.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van't sold 10,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total transaction of $1,426,900.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 120,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,214,835.05. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG traded up $3.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $140.56. 1,776,135 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,175,729. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $135.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $41.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.00 and a fifty-two week high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.87. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.58 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 81.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.46%.

Diamondback Energy Profile

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.