Boston Partners Acquires 571,820 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,169,742 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 571,820 shares during the period. Diamondback Energy accounts for 1.0% of Boston Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Boston Partners’ holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $849,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 247.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 940.0% in the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 208 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 276 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FANG shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $167.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.33.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This trade represents a 53.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $153.03 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $161.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.22. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.09 and a twelve month high of $214.50. The stock has a market cap of $44.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.32%.

About Diamondback Energy

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.