American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 282,896 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,268,740 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 282,896 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.44% of Diamondback Energy worth $181,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 106.3% during the third 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. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the second quarter worth $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Estabrook Capital Management bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 377,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.61, for a total value of $52,382,243.71. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,044,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,828,599.04. This represents a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total value of $162,880,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at $16,074,094,093.76. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 1,438,516 shares of company stock valued at $225,026,921 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $174.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $49.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.03 and a beta of 0.63. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.00 and a 52 week high of $177.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.80.

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

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FANG. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $199.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $194.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $187.86.

About Diamondback Energy

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.