Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Lowers Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,582 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 293 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $3,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 8.0% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,740 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 38,166 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $6,580,000 after acquiring an additional 4,180 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 238.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 9,915 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,709,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $86,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 29.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 649 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FANG shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $852,872. This trade represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $160.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.73 billion, a PE ratio of 9.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.86. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.50. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $168.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.49 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.