Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Position Lifted by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 61.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 36,780 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,996 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $5,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 145.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 7,102 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 613.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 13,243 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $152,177,000 after purchasing an additional 577,514 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,494,159 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $541,175,000 after buying an additional 89,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 31,348 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $4,861,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $200.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 1.93. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.41 and a fifty-two week high of $211.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $189.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.56.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $3.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $12.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.14%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 20.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FANG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $192.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,532,416. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total transaction of $1,153,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 78,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,031,153.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $384,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,532,416. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 57,675 shares of company stock worth $11,311,096. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

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.