Clearbridge Investments LLC Raises Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 359,966 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,291 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $58,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FANG. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. SCP Investment LP lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. SCP Investment LP now owns 6,808 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 196,943 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $31,704,000 after acquiring an additional 21,396 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $221,000. Finally, Biondo Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,778 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $4,715,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

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

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $159.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.65. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.09 and a 1 year high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FANG. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.33.

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.