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

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-four brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, eighteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $212.65.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FANG. Johnson Rice downgraded Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $227.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 1.0 %

FANG opened at $175.83 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $181.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $145.70 and a twelve month high of $214.50. The stock has a market cap of $51.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.49 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 16.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 99.2% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 251 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.