Versant Capital Management Inc Boosts Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 158.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,241 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $87,924,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 938,474 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $161,793,000 after purchasing an additional 457,896 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 25.6% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,158,910 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $372,196,000 after purchasing an additional 439,579 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 280.8% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 545,202 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $109,144,000 after purchasing an additional 402,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 195.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 531,162 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $106,333,000 after buying an additional 351,329 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FANG shares. Johnson Rice downgraded Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $212.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.83.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $170.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $49.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $147.93 and a 12-month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly 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). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.28 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.