California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 21,541 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 306,849 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 21,541 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $50,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $298,327,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1,153.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,132,918 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $185,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,505 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,817,554 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $461,600,000 after buying an additional 658,644 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,169,742 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $849,202,000 after buying an additional 571,820 shares during the period. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $87,924,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $160.87 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $157.93 and its 200 day moving average is $169.57. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.09 and a twelve month high of $214.50. The stock has a market cap of $46.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FANG. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $206.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.33.

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.