15,323 Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG Shares Acquired by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 29.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,947 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,323 shares during the period. Diamondback Energy comprises about 0.5% of Inspire Investing LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $12,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the first quarter valued at about $44,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on FANG. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $243.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $221.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.71.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $205.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.03 and a 12 month high of $216.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $197.35 and a 200-day moving average of $194.46. The company has a market capitalization of $57.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.11 and a beta of 0.55.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.40. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 8.58%. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 21.04 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 85.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Travis Stice sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.31, for a total value of $15,323,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 49,727 shares in the company, valued at $10,159,723.37. The trade was a 60.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.74, for a total transaction of $6,124,605.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 759,864 shares in the company, valued at $139,617,411.36. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 141,666 shares of company stock worth $28,061,456. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company engaged in the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves. The company’s operations are concentrated in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, particularly the Midland and Delaware Basins.

Diamondback produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids from horizontal wells and related infrastructure. Its activities include drilling and completing wells, operating gathering and processing assets, and managing midstream services that support production.