Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 3,532 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,409 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,532 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.05% of Diamondback Energy worth $14,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 559.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 257 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG traded up $1.84 during trading on Monday, reaching $202.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,416,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,755,888. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $190.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.24. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.41 and a fifty-two week high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.29 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.53 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $3.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $12.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.08%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 20.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $214.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $192.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.26.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total value of $514,536.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,485 shares in the company, valued at $1,632,089.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Diamondback Energy news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total value of $514,536.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,632,089.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,675 shares of company stock worth $11,311,096 in the last three months. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.