MML Investors Services LLC Decreases Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

MML Investors Services LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,815 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 1,910 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $2,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lakewood Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.5% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,247 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Barden Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,380 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,892 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckhead Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 19,830 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,249,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FANG shares. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup raised Diamondback Energy from a “reduce” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.96.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of FANG opened at $136.76 on Monday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $145.04 and a 200 day moving average of $162.57. The company has a market cap of $40.22 billion, a PE ratio of 7.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.00 and a 52-week high of $214.50.

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. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.