Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Cut to “Hold” at Benchmark

Benchmark cut shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

FANG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $180.54 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18 and a beta of 0.59. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $183.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $161.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 74.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 60,605 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.12, for a total value of $9,764,677.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 982,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $158,220,806.72. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of Diamondback Energy 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 transaction, the insider owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,074,094,093.76. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FANG. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 106.3% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Diamondback Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Diamondback Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler kept an “overweight” rating on FANG and trimmed its price target only slightly (from $218 to $215), signalling continued conviction in upside. Piper Sandler price target note
• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target substantially (to $216) and maintained a “buy” rating, providing another bullish analyst signal that supports further upside. UBS price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen reiterated a Buy rating with a $195 target, citing disciplined growth, expanding inventory and low breakevens — supportive fundamentals for investors focusing on cash returns and resilience. TD Cowen buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Market write-ups highlight FANG as one of the energy stocks leading this year’s rally (LNG/export tailwinds and shareholder-friendly cost structures cited), which may attract momentum buyers. Benzinga rally piece
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights FANG among names to watch as WTI moves above $75, indicating commodity-driven upside potential for upstream producers. Zacks oil price note
• Neutral Sentiment: A short-interest report in the feed appears unreliable (shows zero shares / NaN change), so there’s no clear evidence of a new short squeeze or mounting short pressure to impact the stock today.
• Negative Sentiment: Benchmark Co. downgraded Diamondback from “buy” to “hold,” removing one bullish endorsement and likely contributing to investor caution despite other positive notes. Benchmark downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage pieces (Barron’s) note that some energy names are being downgraded even as oil rallies, a theme that can cap multiple-stock rallies and temper enthusiasm for big rerating moves. Barron’s sector downgrade piece

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.