Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 986 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,446 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 986 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $6,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 858,446 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $128,720,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 648,317 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 577,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 441,411 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $201.50 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $123.41 and a one year high of $211.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $195.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.91.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 36.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.96 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 20.29%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on FANG. Bank of America raised Diamondback Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $129.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Bank Of America (Bofa) decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $147.00 to $129.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.37.

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.