Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Takes $328,000 Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,113 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fielder Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,366,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $323,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 946.9% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 154,493 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $24,257,000 after purchasing an additional 139,736 shares during the last quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 887.1% in the 4th quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,800 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $5,242,000 after purchasing an additional 30,376 shares during the period. Finally, Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 43,198 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $6,699,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on FANG. StockNews.com raised Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total transaction of $1,153,020.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,031,153.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Diamondback Energy news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total transaction of $1,153,020.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,218 shares in the company, valued at $15,031,153.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG traded up $2.69 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $204.19. The company had a trading volume of 1,791,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,745,825. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $196.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $36.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.91. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.41 and a 52-week high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued 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 company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.29%.

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.