Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Reduces Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 71.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,899 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 103,270 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $6,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wintrust Investments LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc grew its position in 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 valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of FANG traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $136.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,608,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,093,456. 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 company has a market capitalization of $40.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $145.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.39. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.00 and a 52 week high of $214.50.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. 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 currently 25.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on FANG. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup raised Diamondback Energy from a "reduce" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $194.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.96.

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.