Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Buys Shares of 29,901 Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 29,901 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $4,637,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted 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 purchasing an additional 858,446 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at about $128,720,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $2,209,617,000 after buying an additional 648,317 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 143.0% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 981,284 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $152,177,000 after buying an additional 577,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 286.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 595,694 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $92,380,000 after buying an additional 441,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on FANG. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, March 4th. Raymond James cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Diamondback Energy news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.94, for a total value of $969,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,619,663.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,675 shares of company stock worth $11,311,096 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.43% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ FANG traded up $1.86 during trading on Thursday, reaching $207.10. 1,092,948 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,731,826. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $192.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.13. The company has a market cap of $36.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.93. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.41 and a 1-year high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 37.36%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.84 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $3.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $12.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.95%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is 20.76%.

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.