Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 24,339 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lowered its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 317,147 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 24,339 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.11% of Diamondback Energy worth $51,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted 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 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 in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of FANG stock traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $133.54. 944,764 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,094,676. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $214.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The company's 50-day moving average price is $143.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.78.

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, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.55 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FANG. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $240.00 to $234.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price target on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upgraded Diamondback Energy from a "reduce" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $199.00.

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.