Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $27.11 Million Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 165,493 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,061 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $27,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,584,000. Point72 Europe London LLP raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 68,460 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $11,216,000 after buying an additional 5,986 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 75.4% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 376,584 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $61,696,000 after buying an additional 161,833 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 19,317 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $3,165,000 after buying an additional 4,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $452,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FANG. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $179.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.09.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 10,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total value of $1,426,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 120,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,214,835.05. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ FANG opened at $141.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $141.32 and a 200-day moving average of $158.36. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.00 and a 1-year high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.87. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.58 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company’s revenue was up 81.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.46%.

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.