Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target Raised to $195.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $191.00 to $195.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on FANG. Wolfe Research raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.17.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG stock opened at $180.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $147.93 and a 12-month high of $214.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.92.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 16.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.61%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of Diamondback Energy 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. The trade was a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Veracity Capital LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 5,192 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 11,185 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 84,765 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $13,887,000 after purchasing an additional 9,010 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 155.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,043 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,052,000 after purchasing an additional 26,204 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 6,581 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 2,164 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.