Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Given New $184.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $184.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on FANG. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $222.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $183.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $195.95.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 0.5 %

FANG stock opened at $205.35 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $36.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $185.96 and its 200 day moving average is $166.40. Diamondback Energy has a one year low of $123.41 and a one year high of $211.96.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.61 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy will post 18.47 EPS for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $3.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This is an increase from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $12.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.00%. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is 20.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Diamondback Energy news, CFO Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.82, for a total value of $2,289,840.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 185,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,470,003.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Hof Matthew Kaes Van’t sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.82, for a total value of $2,289,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 185,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,470,003.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Travis D. Stice sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,610 shares in the company, valued at $89,322,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,675 shares of company stock valued at $11,311,096 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 3,156 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,932 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 34,403 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $4,716,000 after purchasing an additional 4,129 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 1st quarter worth $205,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

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.