Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Trading Up 4.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)’s stock price traded up 4.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $238.00 to $242.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Diamondback Energy traded as high as $137.11 and last traded at $136.02. 392,991 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 2,066,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.22.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Williams Trading set a $190.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup raised Diamondback Energy from a “reduce” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Frank D. Tsuru acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,802.30. This represents a 53.62 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,675 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,238 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 198,283 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $32,485,000 after buying an additional 43,361 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 631.1% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 43,148 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,069,000 after buying an additional 37,246 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 146,870 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,008,000 after buying an additional 47,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 31,467 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $5,155,000 after acquiring an additional 8,704 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 5.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.48 billion, a PE ratio of 7.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.20.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.