Wells Fargo & Company Trims Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Target Price to $224.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $227.00 to $224.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank Of America (Bofa) cut their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $147.00 to $129.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $248.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $204.37.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG traded up $3.87 during trading on Thursday, reaching $201.50. 1,873,837 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,530,138. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $195.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $35.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.91. Diamondback Energy has a 1 year low of $123.41 and a 1 year high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.29 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 36.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 18.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is currently 20.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total transaction of $514,536.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,485 shares in the company, valued at $1,632,089.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Diamondback Energy news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.35, for a total transaction of $514,536.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,632,089.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Daniel N. Wesson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.17, for a total transaction of $1,153,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 78,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,031,153.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 57,675 shares of company stock worth $11,311,096 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FANG. 9258 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth $332,000. Csenge Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth $305,000. Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth $252,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the first quarter worth $5,148,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 380.0% during the first quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 20,336 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $4,030,000 after acquiring an additional 16,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.