Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday after Freedom Capital upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. Approximately 3,515,707 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 39% from the previous session’s volume of 2,532,680 shares.The stock last traded at $174.3060 and had previously closed at $178.37.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on FANG. 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. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $178.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $191.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Travis D. Stice sold 63,957 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.16, for a total transaction of $11,586,450.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 305,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,310,684.24. This represents a 17.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 1,168,462 shares of company stock valued at $192,197,747 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 106.3% during the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $163.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $50.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77 and a beta of 0.59.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.Diamondback Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a $1.05 dividend. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.87%.

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.