Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 91,605 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,710,165 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,605 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $769,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FANG. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,675 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,238 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 198,283 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $32,485,000 after acquiring an additional 43,361 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 631.1% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 43,148 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,069,000 after acquiring an additional 37,246 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 48.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 146,870 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,008,000 after acquiring an additional 47,951 shares during the period. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.2% in the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 31,467 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $5,155,000 after purchasing an additional 8,704 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on FANG shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.33.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $161.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $46.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $157.61 and a 200-day moving average of $169.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $137.09 and a one year high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. As a group, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.