PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Reduces Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,121 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 2,353 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $7,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,858,555 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,044,415,000 after buying an additional 149,871 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,618,560 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $793,611,000 after purchasing an additional 266,299 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 13.7% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 502,916 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,704,520 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $466,259,000 after purchasing an additional 230,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $298,327,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on FANG. Wolfe Research upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $214.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Williams Trading set a $190.00 price target on Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.08.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $146.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $162.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.36. The company has a market capitalization of $42.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.39, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.84. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.09 and a fifty-two week high of $214.50.

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

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Diamondback Energy Company 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.