Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target Raised to $220.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $220.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on FANG. Benchmark cut Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $194.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $222.00 target price for the company. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.81.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $201.84 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $56.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.98 and a beta of 0.59. Diamondback Energy has a 1 year low of $114.00 and a 1 year high of $204.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.02.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.26). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 74.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total transaction of $1,130,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $844,561.40. This trade represents a 57.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jere W. Thompson III sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.47, for a total transaction of $136,852.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,644,838.25. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,209,212 shares of company stock worth $199,689,401. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 274 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,719 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 0.7% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,030 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 3.0% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsend & Associates Inc raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 14,330 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,161,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

About Diamondback Energy

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.