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

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $218.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 20.77% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on FANG. Barclays raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Diamondback Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $194.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.00.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of FANG traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $178.02. 1,261,812 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,328,624. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Diamondback Energy has a 52 week low of $114.00 and a 52 week high of $183.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.59. The firm has a market cap of $50.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 60,605 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.12, for a total transaction of $9,764,677.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 982,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $158,220,806.72. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total value of $162,880,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,074,094,093.76. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 245.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 106.3% in the 3rd quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.