Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Matador Resources Company (NYSE:MTDR)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Matador Resources Company (NYSE:MTDR) by 16.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,654 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 1,508 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Matador Resources were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Matador Resources in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matador Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matador Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 9,090.9% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,011 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Matador Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $68,000. 91.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MTDR shares. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Matador Resources from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Matador Resources from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Matador Resources from $65.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Matador Resources from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Matador Resources from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Insider Activity

In other Matador Resources news, CEO Joseph Wm Foran acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $49.17 per share, for a total transaction of $245,850.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $324,817.02. This trade represents a 311.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 5.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Matador Resources Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE:MTDR opened at $46.71 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.83. Matador Resources Company has a 12 month low of $35.19 and a 12 month high of $64.04.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The energy company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $895.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $892.86 million. Matador Resources had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 22.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.05 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Matador Resources Company will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Matador Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Matador Resources’s payout ratio is currently 18.30%.

Matador Resources declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy company to purchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Matador Resources Profile

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production; and Midstream. The company primarily holds interests in the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas.