Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target Raised to $229.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $224.00 to $229.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

FANG has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the company from $129.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. Bank Of America (Bofa) dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $147.00 to $129.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $212.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $202.53.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $204.37 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $191.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.61. Diamondback Energy has a 52-week low of $123.41 and a 52-week high of $211.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.93.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.13. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.29 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 18.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $3.08 dividend. This represents a $12.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 20.76%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total transaction of $1,153,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 78,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,031,153.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $257,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $928,000. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at about $324,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at about $247,000. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at about $217,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.