Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target Lowered to $212.00 at UBS Group

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price objective decreased by UBS Group from $235.00 to $212.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FANG. Barclays upgraded Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $185.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.17.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG opened at $167.12 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $48.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $181.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.82. Diamondback Energy has a 52-week low of $146.82 and a 52-week high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 16.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 67.1% during the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 137 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,907 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 1,859 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,821 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,817 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.