Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Grows Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 327,792 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,828 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.18% of Diamondback Energy worth $64,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,266,640 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,209,617,000 after buying an additional 648,317 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 143.0% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 981,284 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $152,177,000 after purchasing an additional 577,514 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 286.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 595,694 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $92,380,000 after buying an additional 441,411 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1,748.1% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 281,256 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $43,561,000 after acquiring an additional 266,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16,215.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 266,264 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $41,292,000 after purchasing an additional 264,632 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total value of $179,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,241.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total transaction of $179,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,241.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.14, for a total value of $1,182,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 69,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,736,123.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.5 %

Diamondback Energy stock traded up $3.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $206.81. 94,642 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,628,579. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.73 and a 1-year high of $211.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $196.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $36.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.90.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 36.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Susquehanna increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.35.

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.