Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 17,356 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 129,514 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 17,356 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $21,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,169,742 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $849,202,000 after acquiring an additional 571,820 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,618,560 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $793,611,000 after purchasing an additional 266,299 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,163,070 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $682,036,000 after purchasing an additional 502,916 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,817,554 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $461,600,000 after purchasing an additional 658,644 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $298,327,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

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Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG traded up $5.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $129.01. The stock had a trading volume of 3,928,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,063,823. The firm has a market cap of $37.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.38, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.00 and a 52 week high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $150.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.28.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on FANG. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a "reduce" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.17.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.