Yacktman Asset Management LP Boosts Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Yacktman Asset Management LP raised its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,520,447 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,524 shares during the quarter. Diamondback Energy makes up 2.2% of Yacktman Asset Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Yacktman Asset Management LP owned approximately 0.85% of Diamondback Energy worth $235,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 39.9% in the 3rd 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 period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $128,720,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 143.0% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 981,284 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $152,177,000 after buying an additional 577,514 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 286.1% in the 4th 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. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $214.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.53.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,322,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Diamondback Energy news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,523 shares in the company, valued at $18,532,416. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,322,000. 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 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ FANG traded up $1.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $208.70. The stock had a trading volume of 608,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,717,526. The firm has a market cap of $37.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.93. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $192.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.13. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.41 and a 1 year high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.13. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.29 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.83 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $3.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $12.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.90%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.76%.

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.