Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Given New $230.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Citigroup from $178.00 to $230.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 16.14% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective 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. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $215.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $171.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Four investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $199.29.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FANG traded down $3.81 on Monday, reaching $198.03. 2,044,579 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,857,132. Diamondback Energy has a fifty-two week low of $114.00 and a fifty-two week high of $204.91. The business’s 50-day moving average is $173.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.02. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $55.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Diamondback Energy

In related news, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total value of $1,130,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $844,561.40. This trade represents a 57.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 60,605 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.12, for a total value of $9,764,677.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 982,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,220,806.72. This trade represents a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,209,212 shares of company stock valued at $199,689,401 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FANG. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 274 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 19,719 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,030 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsend & Associates Inc grew its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 14,330 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,161,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.