Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wolfe Research

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wolfe Research from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $190.00 price target on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price target points to a potential upside of 11.14% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. KeyCorp cut their price target on Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $212.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays raised Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $216.00 to $210.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.83.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FANG opened at $170.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $49.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $171.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.66. Diamondback Energy has a 1-year low of $147.93 and a 1-year high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its 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). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 13.68% and a net margin of 33.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 16.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,872. This trade represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FANG. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $87,924,000. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 95.3% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 938,474 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $161,793,000 after acquiring an additional 457,896 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 25.6% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,158,910 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $372,196,000 after acquiring an additional 439,579 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 280.8% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 545,202 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $109,144,000 after acquiring an additional 402,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Diamondback Energy by 195.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 531,162 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $106,333,000 after purchasing an additional 351,329 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

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.