Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Trims Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,208 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 8,601 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $2,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 809 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,907 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,975 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $3,999,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 412 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of FANG stock traded down $5.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $176.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,123,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,888,264. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.70 and a 52 week high of $214.50. The company has a market cap of $51.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.89. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $181.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FANG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $185.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "sector outperform" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.64.

Diamondback Energy 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.