Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Cuts Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC reduced its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 23.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 71,931 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 21,659 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $9,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 95.7% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 180 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 596.4% in the first quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 195 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 119.8% in the first quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 200 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on FANG shares. Mizuho cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $176.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 15th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Melius started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $213.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $173.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total transaction of $2,913,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 102,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,586,306. The trade was a 16.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG opened at $142.28 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $142.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $140.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $41.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 1.04. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.00 and a 1 year high of $186.07.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 27.25%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 48.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.43%.

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.