Banco Santander S.A. Reduces Stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Banco Santander S.A. trimmed its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,231 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 968 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $13,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 247.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 940.0% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 310 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on FANG. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 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. Mizuho boosted their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.09.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG stock opened at $140.11 on Friday. 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 $138.94 and a one year high of $214.50. The stock has a market cap of $40.55 billion, a PE ratio of 8.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.50.

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

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 25.32%.

Diamondback Energy 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.