Generali Investments Management Co LLC Acquires Shares of 1,247 Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 34.1% in the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 22,574 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,609,000 after purchasing an additional 5,735 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $7,536,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 95.9% in the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 3,655 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 1,789 shares during the last quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 7.8% in the first quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP now owns 3,587 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 25.8% in the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 125,215 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $20,019,000 after buying an additional 25,690 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FANG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price objective on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $193.09.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $140.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.00 and a fifty-two week high of $214.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $135.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.79. The company has a market cap of $41.07 billion, a PE ratio of 8.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 24.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total transaction of $1,426,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 120,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,214,835.05. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

About Diamondback Energy

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.