Analysts Set Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target at $212.00

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $212.65.

FANG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Johnson Rice downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $182.00 price target for the company.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of FANG opened at $175.83 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. Diamondback Energy has a 52 week low of $145.70 and a 52 week high of $214.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $181.76 and a 200-day moving average of $189.68.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 16.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. This trade represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $181,732,485.09. This represents a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 99.2% in the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 251 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.