Yarbrough Capital LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Yarbrough Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,202 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 22,845 shares during the period. Diamondback Energy accounts for approximately 0.7% of Yarbrough Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Yarbrough Capital LLC owned 0.05% of Diamondback Energy worth $21,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FANG. Smead Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $144,775,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,798,812 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $543,610,000 after buying an additional 1,046,398 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2,637.8% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 456,686 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $65,352,000 after buying an additional 440,005 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1,127.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 369,568 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $52,885,000 after acquiring an additional 339,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninepoint Partners LP acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth about $45,076,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $201.84 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98 and a beta of 0.59. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $114.00 and a one year high of $204.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a $1.05 dividend. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $950,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 107,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,473,450. This trade represents a 4.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total transaction of $1,130,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $844,561.40. This trade represents a 57.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,209,212 shares of company stock valued at $199,689,401 over the last quarter. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on FANG. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $194.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $199.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $222.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.81.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.