Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Now Covered by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) in a research note released on Monday morning. The firm issued a buy rating and a $227.00 price objective on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on FANG. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.65.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $175.83 on Monday. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $145.70 and a fifty-two week 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 50 day moving average price of $181.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 16.26 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. This trade represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. This represents a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 48.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 146,870 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,008,000 after purchasing an additional 47,951 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $138,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,935,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Diamondback Energy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 49,411 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $9,155,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 2,027 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.