South Dakota Investment Council Sells 2,854 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its position in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 93,716 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 2,854 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $13,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 106.3% during the 3rd quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Estabrook Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter worth about $43,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on FANG. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $169.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Scotiabank set a $175.00 target price on Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, January 16th. Mizuho raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $194.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 377,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.61, for a total value of $52,382,243.71. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,044,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,828,599.04. This represents a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total value of $162,880,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at $16,074,094,093.76. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,438,516 shares of company stock valued at $225,026,921 in the last quarter. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Diamondback Energy Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $178.96 on Tuesday. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.00 and a 1 year high of $183.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $158.76 and a 200 day moving average of $150.14. The stock has a market cap of $50.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.90 and a beta of 0.59.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.26). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.The business had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 71.30%.

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.