Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Acquired by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,795 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 99.2% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 251 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on FANG shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays raised shares of Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $216.00 to $210.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.00.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $185.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $182.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.72. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.70 and a 12-month high of $214.50. The company has a market capitalization of $54.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

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.