Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target to $160.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $211.00 to $160.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 15.03% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on FANG. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, August 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.91.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $139.09 on Friday. Diamondback Energy has a 52-week low of $114.00 and a 52-week high of $186.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $142.18 and a 200-day moving average of $140.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.89 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 48.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 36,177 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $5,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,853 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $9,409,000 after acquiring an additional 3,467 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 50.4% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,149 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth $327,000. Finally, Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 1st quarter worth $2,631,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.