Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target Lowered to $224.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $227.00 to $224.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on FANG. Barclays began coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an equal weight rating and a $214.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and increased their target price for the company from $129.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $204.37.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG stock traded up $3.87 during trading on Thursday, reaching $201.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,873,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,745,569. The company has a market capitalization of $35.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.58. Diamondback Energy has a one year low of $123.41 and a one year high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $0.21. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 36.71% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.10 earnings per share. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 18.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at $89,322,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Teresa L. Dick sold 2,000 shares of Diamondback Energy 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 96,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,532,416. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 57,675 shares of company stock worth $11,311,096. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,655 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.5% during the third quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 2,061 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 9.4% in the first quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 859 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.