Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Shares Sold by Aurora Investment Counsel

Aurora Investment Counsel cut its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 6.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,052 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 487 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $1,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,706,076,000 after buying an additional 2,381,488 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $603,038,000 after buying an additional 415,902 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 235.6% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $541,844,000 after buying an additional 1,916,900 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 10.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,690,181 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $538,547,000 after buying an additional 247,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 7.1% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,473,831 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $495,236,000 after buying an additional 164,732 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $181.46 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.70 and a 12 month high of $214.50. 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 $181.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.49 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Johnson Rice downgraded Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 92.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.