TD Cowen Upgrades Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) to “Strong-Buy”

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) was upgraded by research analysts at TD Cowen to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on FANG. Scotiabank set a $175.00 price target on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $199.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy to $188.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $173.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.90.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of FANG opened at $164.89 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $154.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $114.00 and a twelve month high of $169.49. The company has a market cap of $47.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 0.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 377,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.61, for a total transaction of $52,382,243.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,044,864 shares in the company, valued at $144,828,599.04. The trade was a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,074,094,093.76. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,438,516 shares of company stock valued at $225,026,921. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 245.1% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the second quarter worth $28,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.