Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Given New $212.00 Price Target at UBS Group

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

FANG has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Johnson Rice downgraded Diamondback Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James raised their price target on Diamondback Energy from $232.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $185.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $182.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.17.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock opened at $167.12 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.45. Diamondback Energy has a one year low of $146.82 and a one year high of $214.50. The company has a market cap of $48.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.88.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted 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 business 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 quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.61%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other Diamondback Energy news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of the company’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 owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FANG. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 178.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 30,532 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $6,112,000 after purchasing an additional 19,552 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Diamondback Energy by 368.1% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,784 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,687,000 after acquiring an additional 7,694 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 42,678 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $7,358,000 after acquiring an additional 6,672 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 11,978 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after acquiring an additional 3,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2,768.9% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,332 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during 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.