Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 41.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,549 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 752 shares during the quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,717 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,058,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 145.2% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 11,993 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,860,000 after buying an additional 7,102 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 748.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 15,221 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after buying an additional 13,426 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 613.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,401 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,388,000 after buying an additional 13,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 143.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 577,514 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FANG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $214.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.94, for a total transaction of $969,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,619,663.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 57,675 shares of company stock worth $11,311,096. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ FANG traded down $4.73 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $201.13. 2,042,402 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,728,141. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.21. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $123.41 and a 1-year high of $211.96. The company has a market cap of $35.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.23 by $0.27. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.83 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.76%.

Diamondback Energy Company 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.