Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,239 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $2,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 648,317 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in 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 valued at $541,175,000 after purchasing an additional 89,663 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 6.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,320,567 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $514,289,000 after purchasing an additional 206,189 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 39.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,007,599 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $465,817,000 after purchasing an additional 858,446 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,999,579 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $309,695,000 after purchasing an additional 12,237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,532,416. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $384,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,532,416. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ FANG opened at $204.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.41 and a 1 year high of $211.96. The company has a market capitalization of $36.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $191.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.61.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.13. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a $3.08 dividend. This represents a $12.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.03%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FANG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.53.

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.