Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $185.9048.

Several brokerages have issued reports on FANG. Roth Mkm set a $162.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $173.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $173.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Monday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Diamondback Energy from $199.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th.

Insider Transactions at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 377,911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.61, for a total value of $52,382,243.71. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,044,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,828,599.04. This trade represents a 26.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 245.1% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 176 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 3.2%

FANG opened at $158.64 on Thursday. Diamondback Energy has a 52 week low of $114.00 and a 52 week high of $168.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $152.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $45.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 0.63.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.14. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 27.32%.The business had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

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.