Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 15.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 189,287 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,001 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $24,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FANG. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,656,848 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,575,653,000 after buying an additional 112,297 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 149.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,257,540 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,521,682,000 after purchasing an additional 6,748,670 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,919,925 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $528,736,000 after purchasing an additional 179,405 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,572,083 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $488,590,000 after purchasing an additional 85,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,056,732 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $277,983,000 after purchasing an additional 347,833 shares in the last quarter. 87.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on FANG shares. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 8th. Citigroup lowered shares of Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a report on Monday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $171.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $173.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $178.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 2,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total value of $425,302.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,031.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director David L. Houston sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.54, for a total transaction of $1,252,320.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,565 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,385.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 2,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.17, for a total transaction of $425,302.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,031.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $156.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.28. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.01 and a 12 month high of $171.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.98.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 6th. The oil and natural gas company reported $5.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.90 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 20.66% and a net margin of 38.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.48 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.07%.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, focuses on the acquisition, development, exploration, and exploitation of unconventional and 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.