Sterling Capital Management LLC Buys 2,915 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,500 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,915 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $7,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Wintrust Investments LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 247.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 940.0% during the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 276 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FANG has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Williams Trading set a $190.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.17.

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Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of FANG stock traded up $3.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $130.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,046,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,069,542. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $114.00 and a one year high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $148.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.69.

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

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is 25.32%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently 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.