Barclays Boosts Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target to $182.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG – Get Rating) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $166.00 to $182.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, The Fly reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on FANG. Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, November 17th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $171.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 8th. Roth Capital reiterated a buy rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $195.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Friday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $181.45.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 1.9 %

FANG stock opened at $123.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $103.71 and a fifty-two week high of $168.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.35. The stock has a market cap of $22.60 billion, a PE ratio of 5.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 2.03.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported $5.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.20 by $0.09. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 45.48% and a return on equity of 29.29%. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 22.08 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.95 per share. This represents a $11.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 2nd. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, VP Matt Zmigrosky sold 2,012 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.96, for a total transaction of $275,563.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,235,406.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 83.5% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 189 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 232.8% in the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 213 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Glassman Wealth Services lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 83.3% in the fourth quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 220 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 366.7% in the first quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 224 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Diamondback Energy

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Diamondback Energy, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas company, which engages in the acquisition, development, exploration, and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil, and natural gas reserves. It operates through the Upstream and Midstream Services segments. The Upstream segment focuses on the Permian Basin operations in West Texas.