Mizuho Has Lowered Expectations for Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Price

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Mizuho from $186.00 to $179.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Mizuho’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 23.60% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on FANG. Bank of America upgraded Diamondback Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $202.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “reduce” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Williams Trading set a $190.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $219.00 to $194.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.09.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $144.82 on Tuesday. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $42.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $141.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.61.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.87. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.58 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 81.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frank D. Tsuru purchased 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $156.51 per share, with a total value of $313,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,730 shares in the company, valued at $896,802.30. The trade was a 53.62% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total transaction of $1,426,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 120,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,214,835.05. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wintrust Investments LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 95.7% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 180 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 247.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 191 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

About Diamondback Energy

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.