MML Investors Services LLC Has $2.76 Million Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

MML Investors Services LLC reduced its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,815 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 1,910 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $2,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,169,742 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $849,202,000 after purchasing an additional 571,820 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,165 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $769,706,000 after buying an additional 91,605 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,163,070 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $682,036,000 after purchasing an additional 502,916 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $638,050,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,086,468 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $505,656,000 after purchasing an additional 345,353 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $202.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered 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. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.00.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG traded up $3.09 on Thursday, hitting $135.10. 1,517,257 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,097,424. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.76, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.00 and a 12 month high of $214.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $143.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is 25.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.