Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 23.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,193,201 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 369,501 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.41% of Diamondback Energy worth $195,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 276 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG traded up $0.46 on Tuesday, reaching $128.10. 572,912 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,062,032. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $149.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.67 billion, a PE ratio of 7.33, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.55 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FANG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $206.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.17.

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.