National Pension Service Has $57.38 Million Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

National Pension Service raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 381,710 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,229 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $57,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 245.1% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 264.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 186 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on FANG. Zacks Research cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $231.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.26.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 7,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.27, for a total transaction of $1,439,952.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 974,149 shares in the company, valued at $178,532,287.23. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 63,957 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.16, for a total transaction of $11,586,450.12. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 305,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,310,684.24. The trade was a 17.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 174,321 shares of company stock worth $32,090,475. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $191.48 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.75 and a 1-year high of $214.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 222.65 and a beta of 0.46.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.54 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 511.63%.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.