Sapient Capital LLC Buys New Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,864 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $599,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,717 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 145.2% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 11,993 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after buying an additional 7,102 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 748.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 15,221 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after buying an additional 13,426 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 613.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,401 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,388,000 after buying an additional 13,243 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 577,514 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on FANG. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.37.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of FANG stock opened at $202.78 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.41 and a 1 year high of $211.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $195.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.91.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.29%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,532,416. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related 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 transaction of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,532,416. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

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.