The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 4,686 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,826 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,686 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.05% of Diamondback Energy worth $26,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 21.0% during the second quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 294 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,251 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 274 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,719 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles Meloy sold 33,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.41, for a total transaction of $6,613,600.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 818,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $162,338,466.77. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $204.97 on Friday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.30 and a 52 week high of $216.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $197.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.74. The stock has a market cap of $57.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.96 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $6.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.08 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 8.58%.Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 19.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 85.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Diamondback Energy from $246.00 to $243.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $221.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Roth Capital set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.05.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The company’s operations are concentrated primarily in the Midland and Delaware sub-basins.

Diamondback produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include drilling and completing horizontal wells, operating gathering and infrastructure assets, and managing mineral and royalty interests through its Viper Energy platform.