Everence Capital Management Inc. Buys New Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 6,430 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,053,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FANG. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,716 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 158.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,241 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 4,078 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $668,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 41,734 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,195,000 after buying an additional 2,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 48.5% during the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $227.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $182.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $212.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.83.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of FANG stock opened at $170.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $49.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.88. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.93 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.77. 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 (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The company 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. Research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.