Somerset Trust Co Acquires 504 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Somerset Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,772 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FANG. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,315 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 41,723 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $6,835,000 after buying an additional 1,031 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $312,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 10,195 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the period. Finally, Lakewood Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $1,858,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FANG. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $227.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $212.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays raised Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $216.00 to $210.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG opened at $180.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $170.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $183.24. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $147.93 and a 12-month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.49 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

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.