Jennison Associates LLC Trims Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Jennison Associates LLC cut its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 6.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 305,943 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 22,720 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $52,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 22.4% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,914 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,852 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Second Half Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at $314,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46,474 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $8,012,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $585,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $185.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “sector outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $215.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $182.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $53.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.89. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.70 and a 12 month high of $214.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $181.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. This represents a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.