Simmons Bank Sells 195 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Simmons Bank reduced its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,017 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 195 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,706,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,381,488 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in 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 worth $603,038,000 after purchasing an additional 415,902 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 235.6% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $541,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,900 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,690,181 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $538,547,000 after purchasing an additional 247,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 7.1% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,473,831 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $495,236,000 after purchasing an additional 164,732 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FANG shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $185.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $182.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “sector outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.64.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $182.24 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $181.30 and its 200-day moving average is $191.76. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.70 and a 1-year high of $214.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $53.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 17 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 0.00 % 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. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy 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.