Barclays Upgrades Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) to Overweight

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) was upgraded by research analysts at Barclays from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm currently has a $210.00 price objective on the oil and natural gas company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $216.00. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.30% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Johnson Rice cut shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $247.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $154.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Diamondback Energy from $201.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.95.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $177.52 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $188.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.35. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $31.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.89. Diamondback Energy has a 12 month low of $143.08 and a 12 month high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.51 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.54% and a net margin of 37.51%. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 18.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total transaction of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Founders Capital Management increased its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 404.0% in the 1st quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 126 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.