Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Price

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price target raised by Barclays from $185.00 to $190.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

FANG has been the subject of several other reports. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $173.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Scotiabank set a $175.00 target price on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Benchmark cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.38.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 0.0%

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $182.33 on Monday. Diamondback Energy has a 52-week low of $114.00 and a 52-week high of $186.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $164.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.75. The firm has a market cap of $51.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50 and a beta of 0.59.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.26). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a $1.05 dividend. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 74.87%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 60,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.12, for a total transaction of $9,764,677.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 982,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $158,220,806.72. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total transaction of $162,880,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 98,686,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,074,094,093.76. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,168,462 shares of company stock valued at $192,197,747 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FANG. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 274 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,719 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,030 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,435,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Townsend & Associates Inc increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 14,330 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,161,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.