Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Stake Increased by Shelton Capital Management

Shelton Capital Management boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 61.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,382 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,800 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $5,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Lakewood Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 11,340 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,380 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,892 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckhead Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 19,830 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,249,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FANG. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “reduce” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $167.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.29.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 4.2 %

FANG opened at $119.25 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $152.93 and its 200-day moving average is $167.64. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $116.22 and a one year high of $214.50. The company has a market capitalization of $34.52 billion, a PE ratio of 6.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45.

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

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.32%.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.