Confluence Investment Management LLC Purchases 211 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,078 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position 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 last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 368.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,784 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 7,694 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 6.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,618,560 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $793,611,000 after purchasing an additional 266,299 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 18.5% during 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 buying an additional 6,672 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 3,008 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $227.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $166.78 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.93 and a 1 year 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $171.52 and a 200 day moving average of $184.77. The firm has a market cap of $48.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.88.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

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 $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.61%.

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.