Jennison Associates LLC Lowers Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Jennison Associates LLC lowered its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 264,906 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 17,126 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.15% of Diamondback Energy worth $41,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $2,209,617,000 after acquiring an additional 648,317 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 2.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,494,159 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $541,175,000 after buying an additional 89,663 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 6.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,320,567 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $514,289,000 after buying an additional 206,189 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 39.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,007,599 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $465,817,000 after buying an additional 858,446 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,999,579 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $309,695,000 after buying an additional 12,237 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total transaction of $1,153,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,218 shares in the company, valued at $15,031,153.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total value of $1,153,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 78,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,031,153.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 57,675 shares of company stock worth $11,311,096. Insiders own 0.43% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of FANG traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $205.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,289,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,739,906. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $192.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.41 and a 1-year high of $211.96. The stock has a market cap of $36.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 1.93.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. Diamondback Energy's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $3.08 dividend. This represents a $12.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is 20.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FANG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.53.

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.