Jennison Associates LLC Sells 17,126 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Jennison Associates LLC cut its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 264,906 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 17,126 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Diamondback Energy worth $41,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,209,617,000 after acquiring an additional 648,317 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,494,159 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $541,175,000 after acquiring an additional 89,663 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,320,567 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $514,289,000 after acquiring an additional 206,189 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 858,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,999,579 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $309,695,000 after acquiring an additional 12,237 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FANG. Barclays began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $214.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Diamondback Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $129.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.53.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $204.37 on Wednesday. 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 $36.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $191.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.61.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $12.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.76%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,089.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Diamondback Energy news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,089.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 12,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 185,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,470,003.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096. 0.43% of the stock is owned by 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.