Hancock Whitney Corp Increases Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 35.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,817 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FANG. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 31,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $5,102,000 after purchasing an additional 3,101 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 1,728 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,136,645 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $1,496,859,000 after acquiring an additional 928,429 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 561,935 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $92,041,000 after acquiring an additional 84,464 shares during the period. Finally, Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 40,690 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $6,666,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on FANG. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wolfe Research raised Diamondback Energy from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Williams Trading set a $190.00 price target on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $200.96.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

FANG stock traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $137.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,663,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,099,377. The company has a market cap of $40.53 billion, a PE ratio of 7.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The firm's 50-day moving average is $144.59 and its 200-day moving average is $162.17. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.00 and a 12 month high of $214.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.