Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 47,951 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 48.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 146,870 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 47,951 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Diamondback Energy worth $28,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% in the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 28.1% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 296 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 109.7% during the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 260 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG traded down $3.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $153.06. 2,941,966 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,789,263. The company has a market cap of $44.69 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.88. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $147.93 and a twelve month 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.92.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.49 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on FANG shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Johnson Rice cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $210.70.

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.