Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Makes New $465,000 Investment in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,839 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 940.0% in the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 276 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FANG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price objective on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $167.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $123.37 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $155.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.82. The stock has a market cap of $35.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.06, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.52 and a 12-month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.55 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.32%.

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.