Van ECK Associates Corp Has $23.90 Million Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 8.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 131,930 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 12,168 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $23,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 178.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 30,532 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $6,112,000 after acquiring an additional 19,552 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 11,978 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2,768.9% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,332 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $883,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $87,940,000. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,148,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on FANG. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $185.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.09.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $179.76 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.79. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.70 and a fifty-two week high of $214.50. The company has a market capitalization of $52.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 3.66 and a quick ratio of 3.64.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.51 by $0.01. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.51% and a return on equity of 19.54%. The company had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 17.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.