EP Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,457 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $941,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,858,555 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $2,044,415,000 after purchasing an additional 149,871 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $603,038,000 after purchasing an additional 415,902 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 9.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,704,520 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $466,259,000 after buying an additional 230,689 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 10.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,690,181 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $538,547,000 after buying an additional 247,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 4.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,282,557 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $456,930,000 after purchasing an additional 87,288 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $163.90. 2,662,337 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,775,934. The business's 50-day moving average price is $180.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $188.60. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $47.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.88. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.82 and a 1-year high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company's revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $181,732,485.09. This represents a 92.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on FANG shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $227.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.17.

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.