Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Johnson Rice downgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “sector outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $185.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.64.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

FANG opened at $182.42 on Wednesday. Diamondback Energy has a 1 year low of $145.70 and a 1 year high of $214.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.89.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Diamondback Energy will post 17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,037,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $181,732,485.09. The trade was a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 213.8% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,542 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 4,457 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,118 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 28.2% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,994 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 879 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 20.8% in the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 424 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 206,136 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $40,850,000 after buying an additional 5,102 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, acquires, develops, explores, and exploits unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. It focuses on the development of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations of the Midland basin; and the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations of the Delaware basin, which are part of the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.