West Family Investments Inc. Has $319,000 Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

West Family Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 3.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,852 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $319,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,706,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,381,488 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $603,038,000 after buying an additional 415,902 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 235.6% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $541,844,000 after buying an additional 1,916,900 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,690,181 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $538,547,000 after buying an additional 247,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,473,831 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $495,236,000 after buying an additional 164,732 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on FANG. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays upgraded Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $210.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 92.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $180.12 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $181.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.07. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $145.70 and a one year high of $214.50. 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 firm has a market cap of $52.59 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.49 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Diamondback Energy 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.