State of Michigan Retirement System Decreases Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its stake in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,863 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $9,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lakewood Asset Management LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 11,340 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 3.4% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,852 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.4% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,795 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,892 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on FANG. The Goldman Sachs Group began 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho lifted 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. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.09.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $142.70 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.12. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $214.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.86.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.32%.

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.