Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Sells 86,955 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lowered its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 50.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,007 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 86,955 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $14,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 247.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 940.0% during the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 182.9% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 232 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $135.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,766,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,147,484. The stock has a market cap of $39.69 billion, a PE ratio of 7.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.00 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $140.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.03.

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

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is 24.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van't sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total transaction of $1,426,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 120,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,214,835.05. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on FANG. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price objective on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $193.09.

Diamondback Energy Company 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.