Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) Coverage Initiated at Morgan Stanley

Equities researchers at Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 price target on the energy company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 27.04% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on MTDR. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Matador Resources in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Matador Resources from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Matador Resources from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Matador Resources from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on Matador Resources from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Matador Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.79.

Matador Resources Stock Performance

NYSE MTDR opened at $61.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 3.24. Matador Resources has a twelve month low of $47.15 and a twelve month high of $71.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.16 and a 200 day moving average of $56.01.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The energy company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.11. Matador Resources had a return on equity of 20.01% and a net margin of 27.45%. The company had revenue of $770.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $836.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.86 EPS. Matador Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Matador Resources will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP William Thomas Elsener purchased 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $56.60 per share, for a total transaction of $45,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,827,762.40. This represents a 0.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Joseph Wm Foran purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $55.18 per share, with a total value of $110,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 42,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,331,410.18. This trade represents a 4.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 4,285 shares of company stock worth $232,849. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Matador Resources in the second quarter valued at $169,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Matador Resources by 1,136.5% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 6,479 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 5,955 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Matador Resources by 2.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 561,671 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $33,476,000 after purchasing an additional 15,835 shares during the period. BOKF NA boosted its holdings in Matador Resources by 15.6% in the second quarter. BOKF NA now owns 60,086 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after purchasing an additional 8,086 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Matador Resources in the second quarter valued at $127,000. 91.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Matador Resources Company Profile

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production; and Midstream. The company primarily holds interests in the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas.