Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 77.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,185 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 144,064 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $7,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,419 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,668,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $303,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 18.6% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.8% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,612 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 213.8% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,542 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 4,457 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FANG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Diamondback Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $243.00 to $236.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.64.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ FANG traded up $1.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $180.52. 837,239 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,750,066. The company has a market cap of $53.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 3.64. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.70 and a 52 week high of $214.50. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $181.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.96.

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 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 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 firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. The business'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 17 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Diamondback Energy Company 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.