KBC Group NV Purchases 1,531 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 11.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,512 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 1,531 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $2,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,330 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 105.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 560 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 27.5% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,266 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,432 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $40,533,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 337.8% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 7,211 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after buying an additional 5,564 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 92.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on FANG shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $210.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “sector outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.64.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $181.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $53.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $181.22 and its 200 day moving average is $191.22. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.70 and a 12-month high of $214.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

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.