Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 433 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,501 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 247.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 28.1% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 296 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. This trade represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on FANG. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $227.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $215.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ FANG opened at $170.41 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.93 and a 1-year high of $214.50. The company has a market capitalization of $49.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $169.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

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.