Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 12,779 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 185,478 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 12,779 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $36,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,717 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,058,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,633 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,852,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 145.2% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 11,993 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 7,102 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 748.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 15,221 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 13,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 613.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,401 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,388,000 after buying an additional 13,243 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total value of $179,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,585 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,241.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Diamondback Energy news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.90, for a total value of $179,910.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,241.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.14, for a total value of $1,182,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,736,123.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Diamondback Energy from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. KeyCorp began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $255.00 to $245.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.85.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock traded down $1.87 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $209.06. 1,077,568 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,599,828. The stock has a market cap of $37.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.90. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $134.68 and a one year high of $212.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $197.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.10 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 18.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.29%.

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.