Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Given New $219.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $218.00 to $219.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $205.00 to $215.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $237.00 to $233.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $207.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.70.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $160.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.88. Diamondback Energy has a one year low of $147.93 and a one year high of $214.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.38. 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 (NASDAQ:FANG) last released 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). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 16.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% in the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 28.1% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 296 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 109.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 260 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during 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.