Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 57,549 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Fred Alger Management LLC reduced its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 70.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,274 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 57,549 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $3,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 247.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc boosted 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG traded up $3.25 on Tuesday, reaching $146.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,009,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,128,072. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.00 and a 52-week high of $214.50. The company has a market cap of $42.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.80.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company 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 firm's revenue was up 81.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is 24.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $207.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $194.09.

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.