BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 70,676 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 20.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 277,155 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 70,676 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $47,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 74.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 39,485 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,824,000 after buying an additional 16,804 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 65.8% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,786 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,929,000 after purchasing an additional 5,869 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 67,093 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $13,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,985 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,098 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $73,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FANG. Barclays upgraded Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Johnson Rice downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $182.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of FANG opened at $176.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.09, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.89. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.70 and a 12 month high of $214.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $182.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued 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). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

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.