Meridian Management Co. Acquires 2,432 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Meridian Management Co. increased its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,039 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,432 shares during the quarter. Meridian Management Co.’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $3,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $230,039,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $77,622,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,950,160 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $311,792,000 after buying an additional 418,431 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 50.6% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,135,759 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $181,585,000 after buying an additional 381,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,418,840 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $861,961,000 after buying an additional 249,098 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $163.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $173.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, October 10th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $176.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.67.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $143.16 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.00 and a twelve month high of $186.07. The company has a market cap of $41.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 27.25%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.52 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.43%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total transaction of $2,913,120.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 102,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,586,306. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.