BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Boosts Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 44.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 51,522 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 15,809 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $8,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 247.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 940.0% during the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 62.4% during 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 last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, valued at $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $137.64 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.00 and a 12 month high of $214.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.88, 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 current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $147.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.81.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on FANG. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “reduce” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price target on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.13.

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.