Evercore ISI Lowers Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target to $209.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $235.00 to $209.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.24% from the stock’s current price.

FANG has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $231.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $154.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.76.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock traded up $0.35 on Monday, hitting $170.98. 974,694 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,633,363. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $143.08 and a 1-year high of $214.50. The company has a quick ratio of 3.64, a current ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $189.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.55.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 37.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 18.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Diamondback Energy news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at $181,732,485.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,609,143 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,706,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,381,488 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 235.6% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,730,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $541,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,900 shares in the last quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $87,940,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 16.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,012,329 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $603,038,000 after buying an additional 415,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 280.8% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 545,202 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $109,144,000 after buying an additional 402,026 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.