Moody National Bank Trust Division Boosts Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 50.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 30,120 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 10,120 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $4,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FANG. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,858,555 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,044,415,000 after acquiring an additional 149,871 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,618,560 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $793,611,000 after purchasing an additional 266,299 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,704,520 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $466,259,000 after purchasing an additional 230,689 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,690,181 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $538,547,000 after purchasing an additional 247,065 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,282,557 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $456,930,000 after buying an additional 87,288 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.9 %

Diamondback Energy stock traded up $3.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $178.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,683,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,003,708. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.93 and a 52-week 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 company has a market cap of $52.01 billion, a PE ratio of 10.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $170.76 and its 200 day moving average is $183.77.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $852,872. This trade represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on FANG. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $207.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.08.

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.