Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Grows Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 365,712 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,439 shares during the quarter. Diamondback Energy comprises approximately 3.2% of Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Diamondback Energy worth $56,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 39.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,007,599 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $465,817,000 after purchasing an additional 858,446 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $128,720,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,209,617,000 after acquiring an additional 648,317 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 143.0% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 981,284 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $152,177,000 after acquiring an additional 577,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the first quarter valued at about $73,608,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

FANG traded up $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $201.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 638,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,744,327. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $188.92 and its 200-day moving average is $167.21. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.41 and a 1 year high of $211.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.13. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 37.36%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.53 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $3.08 dividend. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $12.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.11%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 20.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FANG. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $250.00 to $248.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $222.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.95.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,532,416. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Diamondback Energy news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $384,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,532,416. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.82, for a total value of $2,289,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 185,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,470,003.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Diamondback Energy Company 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.