Mizuho Has Lowered Expectations for Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Price

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at Mizuho from $195.00 to $194.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Mizuho’s price target suggests a potential upside of 26.80% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank set a $175.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Friday, January 16th. Roth Mkm set a $162.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.24.

Diamondback Energy Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG opened at $153.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $43.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $180.29.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.48 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 27.32% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 377,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.61, for a total transaction of $52,382,243.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,044,864 shares in the company, valued at $144,828,599.04. The trade was a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Diamondback Energy by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,135 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 51,595 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,756,000 after buying an additional 4,278 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,046 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after buying an additional 1,293 shares in the last quarter. Rydar Equities Inc. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Rydar Equities Inc. now owns 2,836 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, KFG Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Diamondback Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,411 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.