Barclays Cuts Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target to $178.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price trimmed by Barclays from $185.00 to $178.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $163.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $176.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $192.64.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $144.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Diamondback Energy has a 1 year low of $114.00 and a 1 year high of $197.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $142.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.33. The stock has a market cap of $41.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 1.04.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.05). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 27.25%.The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 48.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.43%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 20,400 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total value of $2,913,120.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 102,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,586,306. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $230,039,000. Smead Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $144,775,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $77,622,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,950,160 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $311,792,000 after purchasing an additional 418,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,325,287 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $3,204,894,000 after purchasing an additional 388,512 shares in the last quarter. 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.