Merewether Investment Management LP Cuts Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Merewether Investment Management LP reduced its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 60.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 219,959 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 336,580 shares during the period. Merewether Investment Management LP owned about 0.08% of Diamondback Energy worth $36,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Lakewood Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 11,340 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $1,858,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Barden Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,380 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,892 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckhead Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 19,830 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $3,249,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FANG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $202.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.57.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $142.92 on Tuesday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.00 and a 12 month high of $214.50. The firm has a market cap of $41.76 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. 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 $141.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $158.80.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 81.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 2.80%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru bought 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.