Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Shares Bought by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 727,302 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 18,533 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.25% of Diamondback Energy worth $104,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FANG. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 106.3% in the 3rd quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Estabrook Capital Management acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 4.3%

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $174.08 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $158.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.73. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.00 and a 52-week high of $177.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.03 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.Diamondback Energy’s revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 71.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FANG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. TD Cowen raised Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total value of $162,880,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,074,094,093.76. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 60,605 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.12, for a total transaction of $9,764,677.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 982,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $158,220,806.72. This trade represents a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,438,516 shares of company stock worth $225,026,921 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.