Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Bought by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 123,249 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after buying an additional 3,057 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $20,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lakewood Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 11,340 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Barden Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,380 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,892 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $1,129,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buckhead Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 19,830 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $3,249,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a "reduce" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $207.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.96.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $136.76. 1,550,923 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,093,236. The company has a market cap of $40.22 billion, a PE ratio of 7.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $145.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.39. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. On average, analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

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.