Yacktman Asset Management LP Acquires 65,524 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Yacktman Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,520,447 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,524 shares during the quarter. Diamondback Energy comprises about 2.2% of Yacktman Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Yacktman Asset Management LP’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $235,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,209,617,000 after acquiring an additional 648,317 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,494,159 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $541,175,000 after purchasing an additional 89,663 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,320,567 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $514,289,000 after buying an additional 206,189 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 39.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,007,599 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $465,817,000 after buying an additional 858,446 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,999,579 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $309,695,000 after acquiring an additional 12,237 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $18,532,416. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,532,416. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096 over the last ninety days. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank Of America (Bofa) reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $147.00 to $129.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Diamondback Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $129.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.53.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of FANG stock traded up $1.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $208.70. 608,565 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,717,526. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $37.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $192.69 and its 200-day moving average is $169.13.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 37.36%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.83 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a $3.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $12.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.90%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.