Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lowered its position in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 302,444 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 46,164 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $52,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 178.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 30,532 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $6,112,000 after purchasing an additional 19,552 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 42,678 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,358,000 after acquiring an additional 6,672 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 11,978 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after acquiring an additional 3,008 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2,768.9% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,332 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth about $601,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $182.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Johnson Rice lowered shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.00.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $185.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.70 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $182.15 and its 200 day moving average is $190.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). The firm 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 92.72 % 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, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.