Clarity Financial LLC Raises Stock Position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Clarity Financial LLC increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 83.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,140 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 40,441 shares during the period. Diamondback Energy accounts for approximately 1.7% of Clarity Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Clarity Financial LLC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $14,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth $67,000. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 7,239 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 198,283 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $32,485,000 after purchasing an additional 43,361 shares during the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 10,270 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 75.2% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 37,553 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $6,152,000 after purchasing an additional 16,122 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on FANG. Mizuho cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $207.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Diamondback Energy from $252.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $170.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $49.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.88. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $147.93 and a one year high of $214.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $169.65 and its 200 day moving average is $181.40.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.