Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $59.41 Million Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 45.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 296,752 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 92,213 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $59,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,706,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,381,488 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 235.6% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $541,844,000 after buying an additional 1,916,900 shares during the last quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $87,940,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $603,038,000 after acquiring an additional 415,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 280.8% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 545,202 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $109,144,000 after acquiring an additional 402,026 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $181.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a current ratio of 3.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $187.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.89. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $143.08 and a 52 week high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 37.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. Analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $2.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous None dividend of $2.26. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on FANG shares. Johnson Rice cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays raised shares of Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $216.00 to $210.00 in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $249.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.82.

About Diamondback Energy

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.