MCF Advisors LLC Buys 509 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 60.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,355 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FANG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,869,787 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,391,567,000 after buying an additional 176,208 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,209,617,000 after acquiring an additional 648,317 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,494,159 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $541,175,000 after acquiring an additional 89,663 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,213,631 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $343,296,000 after purchasing an additional 188,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yacktman Asset Management LP lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP now owns 1,520,447 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $235,791,000 after purchasing an additional 65,524 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total transaction of $179,910.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,241.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total transaction of $179,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,241.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 36,900 shares of company stock valued at $7,362,750. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $214.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.35.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of FANG opened at $200.19 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.73 and a 52-week high of $211.96. The stock has a market cap of $35.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $196.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.10 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.29%.

About Diamondback Energy

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.