Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 58,381 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lessened its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 14.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 341,486 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 58,381 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.12% of Diamondback Energy worth $58,872,000 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 FANG. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $87,924,000. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 95.3% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 938,474 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $161,793,000 after acquiring an additional 457,896 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,158,910 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $372,196,000 after acquiring an additional 439,579 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $603,038,000 after acquiring an additional 415,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 280.8% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 545,202 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $109,144,000 after purchasing an additional 402,026 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FANG. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "sector outperform" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $227.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $212.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.17.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ FANG traded up $1.11 on Friday, hitting $163.34. 1,718,361 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,775,083. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.93 and a 1-year high of $214.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $179.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.97. 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 market cap of $47.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.88.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.49 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.28 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.61%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $852,872. This trade represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company 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.