Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lessened its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 547,061 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 3,937 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $89,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,169,742 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $849,202,000 after purchasing an additional 571,820 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,165 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $769,706,000 after acquiring an additional 91,605 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,163,070 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $682,036,000 after acquiring an additional 502,916 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $638,050,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,086,468 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $505,656,000 after acquiring an additional 345,353 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FANG. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “reduce” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.13.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 5.7 %

FANG opened at $137.64 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.00 and a 52 week 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.20. The firm has a market cap of $40.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. On average, equities analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 25.32%.

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.