Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Purchases 1,000 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 19.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,100 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,717 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,633 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,852,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 748.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 15,221 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 13,426 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 613.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,401 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,388,000 after purchasing an additional 13,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 70.9% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 75,333 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $11,683,000 after purchasing an additional 31,241 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total transaction of $179,910.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,241.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total value of $179,910.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,241.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.14, for a total transaction of $1,182,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,736,123.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.65.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FANG traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $200.76. The company had a trading volume of 775,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,125,121. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.71 and a 1-year high of $214.50. The firm has a market cap of $35.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $197.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.21. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 36.71%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.10 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.63 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 20.29%.

About Diamondback Energy

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.