Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Given New $220.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $220.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $194.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup cut their price target on Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $187.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $196.81.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $201.84 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $173.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.77. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $204.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $56.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.98 and a beta of 0.59.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.Diamondback Energy’s revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.87%.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other news, VP Albert Barkmann sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.90, for a total transaction of $731,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 27,571 shares in the company, valued at $5,042,735.90. This trade represents a 12.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jere W. Thompson III sold 750 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.47, for a total value of $136,852.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,644,838.25. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,209,212 shares of company stock worth $199,689,401 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $360,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 13,640.1% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,633 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $3,247,000 after purchasing an additional 23,461 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 403.8% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 10,438 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 8,366 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 5.1% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 244,839 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $33,641,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 1.3% during the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 7,539 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.