Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Trims Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 3.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 92,153 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 3,698 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $18,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compound Planning Inc. raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $550,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 140,846 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $27,858,000 after purchasing an additional 9,867 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 327.1% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,072 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 72,436 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $14,327,000 after buying an additional 1,655 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $204.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $57.58 billion, a PE ratio of 238.00 and a beta of 0.42. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $134.30 and a 12-month high of $214.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $191.42 and a 200 day moving average of $182.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.74 by $0.49. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.54 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.9 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 511.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FANG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Roth Capital set a $212.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $249.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.54, for a total value of $1,002,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,392 shares in the company, valued at $9,303,451.68. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.90, for a total transaction of $1,406,300.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 85,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,228,179.50. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 113,691 shares of company stock valued at $21,622,752 in the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub?basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.