Morgan Stanley Lowers Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target to $184.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $184.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on FANG. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $222.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Bank Of America (Bofa) dropped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $147.00 to $129.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $214.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $195.95.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

Diamondback Energy stock opened at $199.60 on Monday. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $123.41 and a fifty-two week high of $211.96. The stock has a market cap of $35.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.93. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.61 by $0.13. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Diamondback Energy will post 18.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $3.08 per share. This represents a $12.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 20.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 446,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Jere W. Thompson III sold 2,675 shares of the company’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 sale, the vice president now owns 8,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,632,089.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,797 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,655 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 846 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 2,061 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,115 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.