Brokerages Set Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target at $187.78

Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $190.11.

Several analysts recently commented on FANG shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Bank Of America (Bofa) lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $147.00 to $129.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $177.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $192.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock opened at $198.17 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $35.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 1.92. Diamondback Energy has a one year low of $123.41 and a one year high of $198.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $173.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.14.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.13. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 17.93 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a $3.08 dividend. This represents a $12.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.76%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.94, for a total value of $969,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,619,663.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Matt Zmigrosky sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.94, for a total value of $969,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,619,663.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,532,416. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,675 shares of company stock valued at $5,311,096 over the last ninety days. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 1,842.5% during the 4th quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 4,390 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $681,000 after buying an additional 4,164 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $414,000. SCP Investment LP raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 111.1% during the fourth quarter. SCP Investment LP now owns 3,800 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,869,787 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,391,567,000 after purchasing an additional 176,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.