Raymond James Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at Raymond James from $237.00 to $256.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “strong-buy” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Raymond James’ price target points to a potential upside of 47.75% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on FANG. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays raised Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank cut their price target on Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $173.26 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.47. Diamondback Energy has a 52-week low of $147.93 and a 52-week high of $214.50. The firm has a market cap of $50.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 247.3% in 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 buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 28.1% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 296 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 109.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 260 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.