Brokerages Set Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Target Price at $209.33

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $209.33.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FANG shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $206.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Mizuho upped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $157.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $156.51 per share, for a total transaction of $313,020.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Diamondback Energy by 368.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,784 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 7,694 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 162.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 52,974 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $9,130,000 after purchasing an additional 32,803 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 31.2% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 8,841 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,524,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,042 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $4,834,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 12.7 %

FANG opened at $123.37 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $155.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.82. Diamondback Energy has a 1 year low of $123.15 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $35.71 billion, a PE ratio of 7.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. Sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

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.