Empirical Finance LLC Has $1.02 Million Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,941 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 178.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 30,532 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $6,112,000 after buying an additional 19,552 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 18.5% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 42,678 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,358,000 after purchasing an additional 6,672 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 33.5% during the third quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 11,978 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2,768.9% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,332 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $40,533,000. 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 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 sale, the director now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.64.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 3.2 %

FANG opened at $176.60 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.70 and a twelve month high of $214.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $181.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.36. The stock has a market cap of $51.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.89. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

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.